The Scientist
by Kronoskingofthemonkeypeople
Summary: What would happen if Meredith never went to Joe's the night before she started work at Seattle Grace? Would she and Derek see eachother same way by starting with a platonic relationship? This is mostly food for my curiousity but I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter I

**The Scientist – Chapter I**

"_Oh take me back to the start."_

Dr Derek Sheppard leaned back in the fake leather upholstered seat in the dark corner of the Emerald City Bar. Staring voyeuristically into the crowd in front of him he ran his finger around the rim of his glass as he nestled protectively his single malt scotch. He didn't know why he was here. After he met with Webber at the hospital he walked passed this place, wondering if it was the doctor's after-work haven. That night he put on his favourite red shirt and combed his hair in the mirror but he did not know why. It was almost as though he had no control of his actions, or had no thought of them. After New York, after Addison, he had been in autopilot.

So now here he was, wearing his attractive red shirt, looking through the crowd. Derek didn't know what he was planning to do, just that he was free. No wife, no family. He could do anything.

But that's not he wanted to do. He didn't need to go out on the town and hook up with anyone but for some reason he was there anyway.

Sitting up in the seat he took a sip of his scotch with a slight grimace then sighed as he ran his hands through his perfectly combed hair.

What was he doing?  
Someone moved in front of him and stood at the other end of the table. Derek looked up to see a woman wearing classic blue jeans and a light pink blouse. Her strawberry-blonde hair was tied up in a messy knot and she carried a strangely green cocktail in her hand. She smiled as Derek looked up.

"Anyone sitting here?"

Derek quickly swigged the last of his scotch then moved down the seat, making space for the woman as she sat down next to him.

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Meredith looked around outside in vain. She needed tequila. Lots of it. Thousands of bottles of tequila filled with those frozen little worms so she can knock herself out as quickly as possible. She had just been to the pre-torture cocktail party and already she was regretting becoming an intern. Maybe her mum was right; she couldn't handle being a surgeon.

But seriously, what the hell made her choose Seattle Grace of all hospitals? Talk about digging up the past.

Meredith's thoughts vanished as she heard footsteps behind her. The other interns had left with her and were all making there way home. A youngish looking guy saw her and headed towards her, breaking off from the crowd. She quickly turned around and tried to avoid him by continuing to look around for somewhere that sells alcohol. Suddenly her eyes caught a small green neon sign, blinking across the road from the hospital. Heaven.

"Hey, you need a lift home or something?" Came a slightly nervous voice of the guy behind her.

Meredith turned around to face him and smiled quickly. "It's fine, I think I'll just wander round for a while. Thanks."

"No worries." The guy said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you tomorrow then…"

Suddenly Meredith's phone began to ring. The guy looked down at her handbag, expecting her to get it. Meredith didn't want to answer the phone. There is only one thing it could be at this time of night and that thing was the one thing she didn't need right now. She would have never answered her phone if the guy in front of her was not looking at her curiously, waiting patiently for her to pick it up.

Letting out an agitated sigh Meredith opened her handbag and got out her phone.

"Hey." She answered dully. She nodded at the young looking guy who smiled and waved goodbye, joining the group of interns hailing cabs.

"Miss Grey? I'm sorry to bother you at this time of night but I'm afraid there's been a situation with your mother."

Meredith let out a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. "What is it this time?"

"She seems to be reliving her surgical days and has stolen all the knives. You can understand that we were worried what she might do with them so we put her on some sedatives to bring her down while she experiences this episode. I know it may be too hard to ask but it wouldn't be possible to come over and see her tonight, would it? A familiar face would help a lot."

"I don't think I'm a familiar face to her." Meredith sat down on the bench, looking wistfully at the small neon light.

"It would help to comfort her. She is sedated and she is scared."

"Look, I start my new job tomorrow. I'd like to but I really can't."

"You could only be there for an hour. Please."

Meredith sighed and closed her eyes. This is the last time her mum will do this to her.

"Fine."

Quickly she hung up her mobile and put it in her handbag. Standing up from the bench she looked once more at the bar she would have been in right now and sighed. Turning around she walked to the street corner and hailed a cab.

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**NB: This is a strange thing. A couple of days ago I thought of a hypothetical and now I can't seem to get it out of my head.**

**But what _would _happen if Derek and Meredith never met at Joes? Would it be the same? There relationship began with sex so to start it off with a formal: "This is Dr Derek Sheppard, a neurosurgeon and your new boss" – as they did Burke and everyone else – would give them a whole new base.**

**So I don't know, this is more a personal experiment than anything else. I'll probably use some of the old plot lines outside the Mer/Der plot in this story but yeah. Hope you're as intrigued as I am with this. But then again a lot of things intrigue me, which do not others. Oh well. Wouldn't be able to give a poor suffering fanfic writer a review? We live off them, as you should know.**


	2. Chapter II

**The Scientist – Chapter II**

_What did I do?_

Derek slowly opened his right eye. At first all he could see was brown, then he became accustom to the light and focused his sight to see a furry leopard skin print he had been sleeping on. Someone else' pillow.

Shit.

Opening up his other eye Derek cautiously peered over his shoulder to see the blonde he had met last night sleeping behind him. Suddenly he felt sick with dread. His stomach began to throb as he turned away from the girl and faced the space before him.

What the hell did he do? He didn't want a one-night stand. He doesn't _do _one-night stands. He's just not that kind of person. He's not Mark.

The dread and confusion he tried to wash away last night flooded his thoughts. He was in bed with a woman he had never met before. What was wrong with him? He had to get out. One side of his brain said it would be insensitive to the girl to suddenly leave but the other debated how much worse it would be if he stayed there and she watched him leave.

Quickly Derek shot a glance back to the blonde then cautiously slid off the bed, picking up his clothes as he crouched on the floor then tiptoed to the door and out of the room. Coming into the kitchen he put on his clothes and picked up his shoes. As he came to the door of the apartment he turned around and peered through the open doorways of the apartment, where he could just see the back of the woman he was about to leave as she slept peacefully in her bed.

"Sorry." He mumbled sadly, then turned back round and opened the door, closing it quietly behind him.

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Meredith woke up suddenly to the blaring of the alarm clock. Absentmindedly she hit the alarm clock and rolled back into the silence. Out of all the things she un-packed she did the alarm clock first. Freaking' alarms.

Rubbing her eyes she stared up at the ceiling for a moment then pulled herself up from the bed. Looking around the room she groaned at the overpowering amount of boxes that filled the room. Stumbling off her bed she opened the closest box she found and pulled out some clothes. It didn't matter what she wears anymore, all she's ever going to wear now is scrubs.

Pulling on her clothes she plodded down the stairs into the kitchen. Unfortunately she had not thought to unpack the coffee brewer so she moved to the lounge room and picked up the warm can of coke she put on the coffee table.

Sitting down on the dusty old couch that had been left there by her mother, she realised how smart it was to set up her bed yesterday, otherwise she'd have sleep on this.

Meredith sculled the last of the coke then put the empty can on the floor. She'd clean it up later. Rubbing her eyes once more she thought about last night's completely pointless mission. Not that she didn't expect the reaction of her mum, she knew that she wouldn't have recognised her. She stayed at the home for 45 minutes, holding the hand of a drugged out woman who every five minutes said "Get off of me!"

Life was fun for Meredith Grey.

Luckily she now had an excuse to miss out on all those Kodak moments with her mother. She was a doctor now. An actual _doctor_. Nothing else mattered, no relationships, no family – she was going to be a surgeon: _that_ was the only thing that mattered.

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**NB: Ok, that was a small chapter; the next will be at the hospital where Derek and Meredith finally meet!**

**And before any of you impale me with a rusty pike for making Derek sleep with me, just hear me out: He was wearing his red shirt. What did you expect him to be doing? But after it he feels like shit, he can't believe what he did. He did this to show the difference between that girl and Meredith, because when he had a one-night stand with Meredith, he didn't feel guilty. He liked it, he wanted to do it again, he wanted to do anything she liked.**

**Ok, so I'm not that good at explaining myself. I get that. Anywho, hope you like it, drop a review or something if you're there and make your karma skyrocket! Woot!!**


	3. Chapter III

**The Scientist – Chapter III**

Life as an intern. It really does suck.

The fact that Meredith would have wanted to tell the truth to the parents, the _whole _truth: the test results, the diagnostic speculations – didn't really help the fact that if she did, she would get her head bitten off. Best leave it to the attendings to do it.

She had only been working at Seattle Grace for a few hours and she was already exhausted. Had not the brilliant, amazing adrenaline been pumping through her body the whole day she'd probably be dead on the floor being prodded with a stick by some little kid with huge kiddie eyes.

As she walked down the hallway she saw a small figure in the distance open the door. Bailey. She needed Bailey.

Trotting up to her she held the door open as she unknowingly seized her body up for an onslaught.

"What?" She barked.

"The parents have questions. Do you talk to them or do I ask Burke?"

"No, Burke's off the case. Katie belongs to the new attending now, Dr Sheppard, he's over there."

Meredith looked hopelessly as Bailey walked down the hallway, leaving her to be drill by a new attending. Letting the door close she tuned around to the direction Bailey was pointing in.

Guy in glasses, guy in suit, guy in scrubs. Guy in scrubs has amazing hair. What the hell was she saying?

Walking across the foyer she stopped in front of the huddle of the three doctors. Meredith coughed slightly as she turned to the guy in scrubs.

"Ah, Dr Sheppard?"

The man looked up from the file he was holding and smiled at Meredith.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could talk to Katie Brice's parents. They have questions, and I can't answer them."

Sheppard continued to look at her, though it seemed his eyes had glazed over.

"Dr Sheppard?"

Suddenly he snapped out of it and gave another charming smile at Meredith.

"Oh, sorry. Your name is?" He put out his hand. Meredith couldn't help but smile at him.

"Dr Meredith Grey."

"Meredith." He mumbled, unaware that the two other men where still standing next to him as he shook her hand warmly. "So, are you the resident on this case?"

"No. Intern. First day."

"Oh." A look of disappointment flashed over his face. "Ah, so… you liking it here?"

"Yeah, I'll get used to it." She looked up at Sheppard who was still nodding at her. "Um, but the patient?"

"Oh! Right, of course. Um, come with me. I'll show you how it's done."

Lightly he brushed his hand on Meredith back to direct her forward. She couldn't help it, she didn't know why it happened, but she smiled as she felt his hand.

And the sickingly charming doctor was her boss. Great Meredith, great way to start your new job.

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Derek looked behind him at Meredith as she followed him into the patient's room. Giving her another quick smile he turned around and walked up to Katie's parents, now standing up from their chairs, looking scared and confused. One reason Derek chose to be a surgeon rather than an GP.

"Good afternoon. I'm Dr Sheppard, I'm now the attending on your daughter's case."

The mum looked anxious. "So will she need surgery?"

"That is still unclear. I am the head of neuro at Seattle Grace and will perform her surgery if she needs it. But right now to take any surgical action would be dangerous, seeing as how it is indefinitive to what is causing these seizures."

"_Indefinitive_?" Barked the father. "Meaning you don't know."

Derek shot a glance at Meredith, who was standing nervously at the door. He liked her, he didn't know why but he did. Even though he was in the firing line he felt that she was the most vulnerable one here. The glance was meant to comfort her, but one part of him commented that is was for him. He turned his glance quickly back to the parents.

"There are millions of causes of seizures. But we are narrowing them down quickly. Luckily they have not been dangerous to her health though we are putting all out focus into this case. Your daughter is in one of the finest hospitals this side of Harvard, she's in good care."

Smiling briefly at the parents he headed out the door before they could think of another question. Meredith followed him to the nurse's station.

"So what do we do now?"

Derek put the patient's file on the counter. "We wait. Soon we will have to find some sort of information about her seizures. Until then: do no harm."

Meredith smiled lightly at the pun. "Thank you Dr Sheppard."

Derek smiled flirtatiously at her. "Anytime."

Derek turned back to the file but looked up wistfully at Meredith as she walked down the hallway.

Why couldn't she have been at the bar last night.

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**NB: So Derek likes Meredith from the start. And Meredith thinks he's charming. And has great hair. Not good looking though, cause I'm keeping with the original. In the first episode she says, "You are not that good-looking."**

**She does! I swear! I remember first seeing McDreamy and thinking to myself "Ha! _He's _hot? I laugh haughtily!" My god how I was srong. That's short for 'so wrong'. And I just made it up. Go me!**

**Anywho, if you guys could review and comment on what I need to fix up that would be fantabulous! Have been reading my reviews and love them all! Thankyou!**


	4. Chapter IV

**The Scientist – Chapter IV**

Meredith opened up the door of the conference room. The place was bulging with interns, all tired and scared. Meredith almost had the patient die on her last night and the last thing she needed was to be in a room full of interns but she was summoned. And when you're summoned…

Finding Christina at the other end of the room she sat down next to her on the counter. She liked Christina, she reminded Meredith of herself, except a bit more bitter and blunt. But that's good. Bitter and blunt worked for Meredith. She looked down to see what Christina was occupied with.

"What are you doing?"

"Suturing a banana in the vain hope that it wakes up my brain." Meredith leaned over to see a neatly stitched banana that had been hidden by Christina's hunched back.

George let out a small giggle.

"What are you smiling at 007?" Christina glared at him.

George stopped and looked at her blankly.

"I'm sorry, I get mean when I'm tired."

"You know what? I don't care." George shifted in his chair. "I comforted a family _and _I got to hang out in the OR all day. All is well."

Izzie moved into the room and sat down in front of them.

"Anybody know why we're here?" Christina asked impatiently.

"Well good morning."

Meredith looked up to see the nice hair doctor walk into the room. Stoppard? No, Sheppard. That's right. She saw him give her a quick look as he entered the room and began to walk among the crowd of interns, hands in pockets.

"I'm going to do something pretty rare for a surgeon, I'm gonna ask interns for help. I've got this kid Katie Brice. Right now, she's a mystery. She doesn't respond to her meds, her labs are clean, her scans are pure, but she's having seizures, Gran-Mal Seizures with no visible cause. She's a ticking clock; she's going to _die_ if I don't make a diagnosis. Which is where you come in. I can't do it alone. I need your extra eyes, your extra minds. I need you to play detective, I need you to find out why Katie's having seizures. I know you're tired, you're busy, you've got more work than you could possibly handle – I understand. So, I'm going to give you an incentive: whoever finds the answer rides with me. Katie needs surgery. You get to do what no interns get to do, scrub in to assist on an advanced procedure. Dr Bailey's going to hand you Katie's chart. The clock is ticking, if we're going to save Katie's life we have to do it soon."

Meredith watched him leave the room as he was paged and got up to get a chart among the fray of interns.

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Leaving the ICU Meredith wandered the hall of the hospital, not really having anywhere to go but going somewhere anyway. She wanted to get that case. She had been Katie's doctor the whole time and to scrub in for an advanced surgery would really make up for the shit she had to deal with the past few days. She heard some footsteps behind her.

"Hey," Christina walked up to her. "I want in on Sheppard's surgery. You've been the intern on Katie since the start, you wanna work together? We find the answer we have a 50-50 chance of getting in."

Meredith looked over at her quizzically. "I don't see how that's profitable to me."

"Hey, I'm Christina Yang! I topped the class in Stanford, any input from me will be profitable."

Meredith smiled wryly at Christina then stopped. Looking up at her she thought for a second.

"Fine, but if I get the surgery you won't mope around saying it's unfair."

"Deal."

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"So she doesn't have anoxia, chronic renal failure or acidosis, it's not a tumour because her CT's clean. What the hell is it?"

Christina was sitting next to Meredith as they leant against the bookshelf in the storage room, charts and files scattered around them on the floor.

"What about infection?" Meredith looked up from the file.

"No, there's no white count, she has no ct lesions nothing in her spinal tab."

Meredith sighed and leaned back against the bookshelf, looking blankly in front of her.

"What do you think about Dr Sheppard?" The words foolishly slipped out of her mouth. Good job Meredith. She'd been thinking about him ever since he talked the patient's parents.

Christina looked over at her. "You mean Dr McDreamy."

Meredith laughed. Somehow, McDreamy summed the guy up in a nutshell.

"I don't know." Christina continued. "He seems nice. Actually he seems pretty damn nice since he's letting an intern crash his surgery. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Have you got the hots for McDreamy?" Christina looked at Meredith suspiciously.

"No! I don't. Really. I was just…curious."

"Yeah whatever, if you start getting favours for sleeping with your boss, I'll kill you."

Meredith smiled. "Yeah, well you know – with him, it would be worth it."

"Hell yeah." Christina laughed. "So, what about an aneurism?"

"No blood on the CT, no head trauma."

"Ok, there's no drug use, no pregnancy, no trauma. I give up."

Meredith stood up and placed a file back into the shelf. "What if no one picks up on anything?"

"You mean what if she dies?"

"Yeah."

Christina leaned back on the bookshelf and sighed. "This is going to sound really bad but I _really_ wanted that surgery."

Meredith looked down at her hands ground. "She's just never going to get the chance to turn into a person. The sum total of her existence will be almost winning Miss Teen whatever." She looked up at Christina. "You know what her pageant talent is?"

"They have talent?"

"Rhythmic gymnastics."

Christina burst out in laughter. "Oh, god."

"What is rhythmic gymnastics?"

"I think it's something with a ball…"

Suddenly Meredith froze. She knew what was wrong with the girl.

"What?" Christina saw the expression on Meredith's face.

"Get up." Meredith ordered.

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Dr Sheppard waited for the elevator. He didn't know why he enlisted the help of the interns, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. No respectable surgeon would ever think of asking the interns for help, but here he was, as vulnerable as ever and it was only his second day here. Great job Derek. What was even stranger was the fact that he could not get Meredith Grey out of his mind. She's an intern, she's off limits, but for some reason he daydreamed about her and stopped dead when he saw her in the conference room. Thank god nobody noticed. But what the hell was he doing? He doesn't know this Meredith, he doesn't know anything about her, except that she's an intern and her last name is Grey. Yet still, there she was, hanging around his thoughts like something sticky that won't blow off.

Startled out of his thoughts by the ding of the elevator he walked into the crowded box.

"Dr Sheppard!" A voice called out behind him. Turning around he saw Yang and _her_. Of course it was _her._

"Katie competes in beauty pageants." Yang stopped the door from closing.

"I know that but we have to save her life anyway."

"Ok, she has no headaches, no neck pains, her CT's clean. There's no proof of an aneurism, but what if she has an aneurism anyway?"

"There are no indicators."

"But she twisted her ankle a few weeks ago when she was practicing for the pageant…" Yang struggled to keep the elevator doors open.

"She fell, when she twisted her ankle." Meredith raised her voice and looked at Derek. "She fell."

"It was no big deal, not even a bump on the head," Christina frantically added "got right back up, iced her ankle and everything, she was fine. It was a fall so minor her doctor failed to mention it when I was taking her history but she did, she _did_ fall."

Derek looked over at Meredith, standing still behind Yang as she continued to struggle with the elevator.

"Well you know what the chances are that a minor fall could burst an aneurism? 1 in a million, literally."

The doors closed. Derek stood behind them as the occupants of the elevator gave out a collective sigh of relief. But Derek didn't feel it. Suddenly he hit the door button, hoping it would still work. A person behind him let out a groan. The doors opened and Derek walked out towards Meredith and Yang as they looked back at him in surprise.

"Let's go."

"Where?" Christina piped up.

"To find out if Katie's 1 in a million."

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Meredith and Christina stared curiously into the gallery as Dr Sheppard signed Katie's file and waited for the echo to come up.

Suddenly Meredith saw Dr Sheppard's face drop as the images came up on the computer. "I'll be dammed."

"There it is." The assistant pointed to the image.

Sheppard leaned in. "It's minor but it's there. It's a subarachnoid haemorrhage." Meredith and Christina tried to squeeze in to see the image. "She's bleeding into brain."

Sheppard nodded his head then put his hand on the assistant's shoulder. "Can you print off this scans?"

"Sure."

"Right." Sheppard sighed and walked out of the room. Meredith and Christina dotingly followed. Sheppard turned around and watched them catch up to him as he walked down the hallway.

"That's really interesting. She could have gone through her whole life without if ever being a problem, one tap in the right spot – "

"And it exploded." Christina added.

"Exactly. Now I get to fix it. You two did great. Love to stay and kiss your arses but I've got to tell Katie's parents she's having surgery." He walked up to the nurse's station. "Katie Brice's chart please."

Meredith glanced over to Christina who was standing nervously by her.

"Ah, Dr Sheppard, you said you'd pick some one, to scrub in if we helped?"

Sheppard looked up from the chart and smiled. "Right. You've both done great work and I'd love to take you both in but Grey was her intern from the beginning so Grey?"

"Yes." Meredith noticed Christina shift uncomfortably next to her.

"I'll see you in the OR." With one last smile Sheppard turned around and walked away.

Meredith looked over at Christina. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, know what, it's fine. We had a deal. Just don't bend over for the soap."

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**NB: This chapter was strange because I was stuck in the confines of the first episode and there was no chance of leeway, so a lot of it's from the original episode. Luckily the other chapters won't be like this at all so this is just a individual case.**

**Unfortunately I've been pulled along to going away for a couple of days so I won't be able to post, but trust me, I'd much rather be here writing. I'll probably jot down some notes but otherwise next chapter will come up on Sunday (American time – I have a world clock widget and I like it very much). But I tell you what, this was a freaking exhausting chapter to write because of the lack of leeway, but I hope it's interesting for you guys as it is me.**

**But to keep me going through the long and arduous task of driving with mother I need reviews! And the hope that when I come home there will be a mountain of dazzling critiques that I can wallow my pain away!! cough **


	5. Chapter V

**The Scientist – Chapter V**

Meredith walked over to the pre OP room, waiting for Dr Shepherd. As she came near the room, she heard a low humming noise. Peering into the room she saw Shepherd shaving off Kaite as she was under anesthesia. Meredith smiled at the scene and the care that Shepherd took as he shaved her hair off. Softly she tapped on the doorframe and Shepherd looked up.

"Just shaving of Katie's hair." Shepherd gave another one of those McCharming smiles. "Said I'd make her look cool. Apparently begin a bald beauty queen is about the worst thing that could possibly happen to you."

Meredith laughed lightly and walked into the room, sitting down on a chair at the wall. Shepherd went back to shaving.

"Thank you." Meredith said after a while. Shepherd looked up at her again. "For the opportunity and for picking me. I've never seen this operation before."

"Seriously? I thought you'd have mountains of tapes with all these fantastic procedures on them."

Meredith got his point. "So you know." She said bluntly.

Derek sensed the dislike of this conversation in her voice. "Hospital gossip, it gets around worse than disease."

Meredith smiled wryly as she looked back down at her feet. Shepherd stopped the razor and looked at her sympathetically.

"It must have been bad having Grey as a mother…" He attempted.

"Yeah, but what are you going to do?" She smiled again.

"Exactly."

Meredith quickly looked up from her shoes again. "Good think you found the courage to ask the interns for help, you wouldn't have diagnosed her without us"

"Oh, I think I could." Shepherd smirked.

"Really?" She asked coyly.

"Yes," Shepherd turned on the razor and began to shave again. "The asking for help was just to boost my popularity. The whole thing was a strategic flare."

Meredith beamed. "Oh come on, I saved you ass."

"But I could have done it without you. Anyway, _I'm_ now the one saving _Katie's_ ass."

"Whatever you say Dr Shepherd…"

"Derek."

"Sorry?" Meredith stopped laughing and stared at Shepherd.

"Call me Derek." He smiled the newly anointed _McDreamy_ smile.

"Ok," She murmured. "Whatever you say…Derek. Your ego is too big for this room."

Derek laughed once more, staring once again at Meredith. "I'm a surgeon, ridiculously huge egos are a prerequisite."

Meredith looked at Derek as he finished off shaving Katie's head. Ok, so he _was_ good looking. The personality is definitely the decider. And the hair. Watching him shave Katie just made Meredith want to jump of her chair and touch Derek's hair just once. There may be a chance for that kind of thing later.

No. No later things with Derek. He's her boss. Bad to touch bosses hair.

Fantastic Meredith, the second day in on her new job and she was already fantasising about her boss. Damn that smile.

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**NB: Yes, I know, small chapter, but I just wanted to drill one out before I left so yeah. Anywho, this is Derek and Meredith getting to know each other. And Derek asking her to call him Derek. Now _that's_ a big thing, cause after only a few hours he's already asking her to call him by his first name, no one else does that even now except his closet friends, and of course, the people he slept with.**

**But that's not the point. The point is, they're having _moments_. And there's got to be a few more _moments _to make up for sex as their first conversation. But yes, as for kissing on the elevator, I haven't ruled that out at all, but it will take a bit for Meredith to kiss him, because he's her boss. And she doesn't know what he's like in bed.**

**But now, as always, I am rambling. One unfortunate thing I have in common with Meredith but _you_ can stop it by reviewing! Ok, so maybe you can't, but reviews are always good anyway!**


	6. Chapter VI

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I really don't like disclaimers; they're just so amazingly pointless. I mean, who in their right mind would write fanfiction if they actually _owned_ Grey's Anatomy. I sure wouldn't. If I did it would be House and Grey's together all the time. Thus: I don't own Grey's Anatomy. Bet you that was a surprise.**

**The Scientist – Chapter VI**

For those who say you can sleep when you're dead, come see Meredith after _two days_ of being an intern.

Standing alone in the elevator, Meredith groaned as she looked at her watch. Four thirty. Why the hell didn't she unpack that coffee machine? Obviously she thought that the high she felt last night would go on forever so she didn't need the brewer. Wrong again.

Though she couldn't deny how amazing it felt last night during and after Katie's surgery. It was like ice but without all the self-mutilating scratching and the 70-hour wanking.

Rambling again. She needed coffee.

As the elevator stopped at the second floor there was a ding and the doors opened, revealing Derek holding two cups of coffee. Walking in he stood next to Meredith, smiling mischievously as the doors closed.

Boss, boss, boss, boss, boss. Just look what happened to Monica Lewinsky.

"Coffee?" Derek lifted up one of the cups to Meredith's sight.

Meredith stopped short for a moment then picked up the coffee. "Thanks." She looked quizzically at Derek. "Why do you have two coffees?"

Derek fidgeted, obviously hoping Meredith would not notice that fact. "Just thought I might need some more."

"So you just walk around with two coffees rather than getting one big one?"

"Yup." Derek turned to her, smiling. "And if I don't want it I can give it away to some unsuspecting woman."

Meredith glared at him playfully. "You are indeed practiced in the art of flirtation."

"I am indeed." Derek beamed, now slowly leaning into Meredith.

Meredith took a sip of her coffee. Quickly she pulled it away as it burned her mouth. Looking down at Derek's coffee, it was obviously finished and been bought a while ago. This coffee was new, almost as if it was made as Meredith walked into the building. She had wondered why Derek got on the elevator on the second floor.

"So, Meredith…" Derek trailed as he looked up to the slowly rising floor levels.

"Derek." Meredith looked up. It still felt strange calling her boss by his first name. Then again, it was even stranger actually _flirting_ with her boss. She really needed to fix up her priorities.

"You wouldn't want to grab another coffee, sometime later?"

Yes. God yes. "You're my boss." Meredith blurted out instead.

"Yeah I think I gathered that." Derek replied quickly.

"But I can't go out for coffee with you because you're my boss and it's against the rules. I could be sacked from the program."

"For drinking coffee?" Derek raised his eyebrows coyly.

"Yes! I mean no – " Meredith began to flounder under the gaze of Derek. "I mean it's not good; me drinking coffee with you. It's unprofessional."

"Of course." Derek nodded sarcastically as he faced back to the doors. "You can still call me Derek though."

"Oh yeah, great substitute" Meredith added sarcastically.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to Meredith's level. Walking out the doors she left Derek still seemingly hanging for an answer. As she got out of the elevator she turned back and raised her coffee and smiled.

"See you round Dr Shepherd."

The elevator doors closed.

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"You're late. Again."

Christina rushed out of the locker room as Meredith opened the door.

"Hey, this is only my second time coming to work!" Meredith shouted out her rebuttal as Christina rushed down the corridor to the group of interns.

Closing the door grudgingly Meredith pulled tried to open her locker then realised it wasn't hers, trying two more then quickly getting changed as fast as she could. She was going to be a bit late before, but after talking to Derek on the elevator she had to walk around for a bit to clear her head. And drink her coffee. Meredith blamed the lateness on the coffee. There was no way she liked Derek that much.

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"You're late." Bailey barked as she left a patient's room with all the other interns following her closely.

"I think I gathered that." Meredith mumbled bluntly. Bailey stopped in her tracks.

"Are you getting cocky, Grey?"

"No, not at all." Meredith stammered, looking down at the miniature tyrant.

Bailey studied her for a moment then stopped. "You are being cocky. For that you get to check on Miss Katie Brice for the day. You scrubbed in for her surgery so you now look on her post OP. We just rounded on her."

Watching the other interns smirk as they walked past her Meredith stood for a moment at the door while the group walked down the hallway then turned around to face the closed door. Sighing momentarily she opened the door and walked in.

Katie Brice was sitting up in her bed watching MTV on full blast while playing with her muesli. Meredith walked up to the foot of the bed and picked up her chart.

"You know they just checked on me, right?" Katie glared at Meredith.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be with you today to see how you're going post OP, whether you get any infections or any fevers." Meredith tried not to display how much she didn't want this assignment.

"Like, you must have seriously pissed off your boss to get me."

Meredith smiled to herself. That was the smartest thing she'd ever heard her say. Katie started to watch the TV again.

"Could you turn that down for a second? I've got to give you an exam." Meredith said as she walked up to her, taking her stethoscope out from her lab coat pocket.

Katie sighed and looked wistfully at the television as she turned the volume down.

Meredith brought her stethoscope to her ears and put the diaphragm on Katie's back.

"That's like, really cold." Katie bit back.

"Sorry." Meredith wasn't sorry. "I'll need you to take a deep breath. And another."

Katie rolled her eyes as Meredith placed the diaphragm in different positions and listened carefully. She then took off the stethoscope and walked back to the chart.

"Looking good." She began to fill out the form. "No signs of pneumonia."

"Isn't that like cancer?" Katie went back to fiddling with her now soggy muesli.

"That's leukaemia." Meredith replied bluntly.

"Same thing. Hey, do you know who won Miss Teen-Miss? I so hope it wasn't Dakota Messing. She like, won last year and I was _so_ going to beat her this year. I think I should get Miss Teen _just _for surviving like, brain surgery."

Meredith stopped writing on the chart and just stared at Katie. "Seriously?" Was all she could get out.

"She's serious." Came a male voice from the doorway.

Meredith hadn't notice Derek open the door and listen to Katie's question. The moment she looked up and saw him she froze instinctively. Ok, not instinctively. Freezing up around Derek had not yet become instinct. Nor will it ever become instinct. Because he was her boss, and she was an intern. Derek looked at her for a second, waiting for her to say something, for her to welcome him into the room and give him the update on the patient.

"Dr Shepherd." Is all Meredith could come up with.

"How's Miss Brice going?" Derek asked coolly, still leaning against the doorway.

Meredith continued to look at him for a moment then quickly snapped herself out of it.

"Good, no fever, no fluid in the lungs. I've been assigned to her for the day so if anything happens you'll be the first to know."

"Excellent." Derek smiled at Meredith, quickly looking her up and down, the turned to Katie. "I've got to check up on some other patients but I'll come and see you and your parents before I head into surgery Ok?"

Katie nodded dutifully and Derek walked out of the room, quickly looking at Meredith once more when she wasn't looking.

Katie played with her muesli a bit more then looked up at Meredith. "He's hot."

Meredith smiled at the comment then closed the file.

"You're right about that."

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**NB: So there was elevator but no kissing. That's not to say that there will be no kissing in the elevator. I like the kissing, I'm all for the kissing. More kissing I say. Just not yet, because Derek's is her boss, and Meredith can't go "Hey, I actually _slept_ with him, what's a little kissing going to do?" Meredith has some self-control left, so we'll have to see how that works out. And hey! That's the fun part!**

**Thus: No kissing. Yet. **

**But Derek's doing his flirty thing as Derek does. And Katie's eating muesli. In case you didn't notice. But yes, please review because I automatically put you on my list of divinity as a god and build you a shrine if you do. Ok I don't, but I would if you give me enough! Just watch!**


	7. Chapter VII

**The Scientist – Chapter VII**

Be cool Derek.

Walking to the surgical station Derek stopped and composed himself. What was happening? One look at her and suddenly he has to stop and take a breather? She obviously was never going to go out with him so there is obviously no point in trying, but still Derek could not just help himself. Anytime around her – actually only the _four_ times he had been around her – he just couldn't help himself to blurt out inappropriate remarks. He may have had the façade of calmness but inside he was a wreck. But Derek couldn't blame himself, he had been married for 11 years, he would of course lost some skills in picking up.

And he was still married.

Derek stopped and immediately tried get that thought out of his head. He couldn't think about that. Not yet, not ever.

"Mr Jennings' room?" Derek asked the nurse behind the counter.

"Room 1504." The nurse replied dully.

Derek moved down the hallway to the room. Moving to the door he grabbed the handle and took in a deep breath.

Be cool Derek.

"Good morning!" Derek walked into the room all cheery. The interns were all huddle behind the patient's bed as Bailey was drilling them about the case.

"Morning." Mr Jennings coughed as he sat up in his bed.

"So, what have we got here?" Derek clapped his hands as he walked up to the other side of the bed and smiled at the interns.

Do not think about Addison, do not think about Addison, do not think about Addison.

Stevens put her hands behind her back. "David Jennings, 52 years old was brought in with a chronic migraine. MRI revealed a tumour in his cerebral cortex and the biopsy proved it is cancerous."

"Thank you Dr Stevens." Derek looked down to Jennings. "You're lucky, the tumour has sharp and clear edges so I won't have to cut too much out. After that we can put you through a course of chemo, which will most probably be very successful. _But_, like all surgeries there is a risk, especially operating in such a complex organ such as the brain. You still want to go through it?"

"If I don't, I'll die. May as well take my chances now."

Derek smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Dr Stevens?" Stevens looked up at him. "Prep Mr Jennings for surgery in an hour. You get to scrub in and watch."

Derek watched the rush of joy in Stevens face. "Thank you…Dr Shepherd." She stammered.

Derek smiled once more at Bailey then at Jennings then turned around and walked out the door.

This wasn't going to work. He needed to go out with Meredith.

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Meredith sat back in her chair and put another chip in her mouth. Watching Derek's surgery with the other interns from the gallery she looked over at Izzie who was standing at the back of the operating room, trying to peer over the shoulders of the nurses. All the other interns were jealous.

"Just because McDreamy chose her to answer the question." Christina grumbled.

"I reckon it's because she's blonde." Alex murmured as he looked down at the surgery. "Shepherd so wants to get in her pants."

Meredith smiled to herself and looked down at Derek, now removing some of the tumour.

Suddenly the stat monitor began to beep quicker and quicker. Derek looked up at the monitor and chucked his instruments away, barking instructions to the nurses which no one could hear. The interns in the gallery stood up and moved closer to the window, transfixed. They watched as Izzie was moved aside as one of the nurses handed the shock paddles to Derek.

Derek shocked Jennings and looked up at the monitor. Nothing. He shocked again. Nothing. He said something to the anaethesiologist and shocked him again. Nothing. The nurses gave him a shot of epi and Derek shocked him again. Still nothing. Once more Derek shouted at the nurses and they increased the charge. Nothing happened. The monitor stayed flat. Derek stared at the monitor for a moment then put the paddles down, ripping off his mask.

"Time of death, 12:54." Meredith could see him mouth as he looked at the corpse then walked out of the room. All the interns were silent in the gallery. They looked down at Izzie who looked like shit. Suddenly Meredith stood up from leaning on the glass and walked out of the room.

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"Hey."

Derek looked up at Meredith who walked out of the fire exit and joined him as he sat outside on one of the courtesy benches.

"I'm sorry about your patient." She said soothingly. Derek was glad she came.

"It's fine." Derek squinted up to the rarely blue sky. "I guess I should be used to it. But it does get you all the time."

"Here." Meredith handed him a cup of coffee.

Derek smiled wryly. "So we're drinking coffee now?"

"Shut up and drink." Meredith ordered.

"Very bossy." Derek studied her. "I like it."

Meredith glared at him while Derek took a sip of his coffee. Quickly he spat it out with a grimace.

Meredith looked worried. "Sorry is it that bad? I got it from the vendor across the road."

Derek wiped off the coffee from his mouth and smiled at Meredith. "No it fine, really. It's umm, really good."

Meredith looked at him for a moment then cracked up. Derek stopped short. He hadn't heard her laugh before. It was cute. High pitched, but so amazingly cute. Derek laughed wryly with her then sighed.

"Thanks. For the coffee." He looked up at Meredith.

"Thanks for my coffee." She pouted at him.

Derek sat for a while, just staring at Meredith as she stared at him. Suddenly Derek's pager went off. He picked it up slowly at looked at it grudgingly.

"I've gotta go." Derek sighed.

Standing up he took one last look at Meredith then walked back into the hospital.

She does like him. He was sure she did.

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**NB: So that was mainly a Derek chapter. I hope I got Derek right, he's a freaking hard character to write for. But I guess that's just stupid old me, choosing the most difficult characters to write and stuffing them up completely. Just look at House!**

**But yes, I like that chapter, mainly because Meredith got to comfort Derek rather than the other way round, because in nearly every fanfic I read it has Meredith breaking down and bawling her eyes out whenever she has the chance. And I don't like that, because I don't think that's Meredith. But it's probably just me.**

**Anywho, will shut up, please review, I wanna know what you guys think of my fic, even if you're impartial and think it's moderately ok.**


	8. Chapter VIII

**The Scientist – Chapter VIII**

"Where did you go off to?"

Christina looked at Meredith sceptically as she sat down next to George at the table in the open cafeteria.

"Nowhere." Meredith dismissed it. "Just had to check on Katie."

"Right." Christina said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Damn Christina, how does she know everything when Meredith has only known her for three days? Stupid insightful people.

George was happily oblivious. "I'm avoiding Burke." He suddenly said in a scared voice. "He hates me. I have to avoid all the shadows and jump when I hear a car backfire. Three days in and I'm already on the verge of an attending biting my head off. I need a drink."

"Don't worry about Burke, Bambi." Christina mocked. "He's a poonce. Wouldn't hurt you if he had the chance."

"You never know." George quickly glanced around then leaned in to Christina and whispered. "He could kill me in my sleep. He has the intern's files, he knows where I live!"

Meredith burst out in laughter and Christina pat George on the back as he looked at the others, confused as to why they were laughing. "I'm serious!" He looked hurt.

"Whatever, hey where's that model?" Christina leaned back in her chair.

"Izzie? I don't know." Meredith became concerned. "That was the first guy to die, she might've taken it pretty hard."

"I'm sure Shepherd is talking to her about it. He's a nice guy." George started to play with his food.

"He sure is." Christina looked mischievously at Meredith.

Izzie interrupted Meredith from glaring back at Christina as she walked up to them and placed her tray down on the table.

"Hey." George said kindly.

"Hey." Izzie mumbled as she sat down next to Meredith.

"You ok?" Meredith peered over to her.

"Yeah I fine, just a bit shell shocked but I'll get over it in a while."

"How long is a while?" Christina raised her eyebrows sceptically.

"Oh, I don't know, I might wallow away in sorrow for a few years then snap every-so often after that. Not long." Izzie smiled, her sad tired face vanishing for a second. "Just give me a few hours."

"Pucker-up Dr Model!"

The interns looked up to see Alex walk past with his tray laughing scornfully as walked over to an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria.

"God I hate that guy." Izzie glared at him.

"He called me a nurse on the first night." Meredith added coyly.

"Seriously?" Christina glanced at Alex once more. "Well, at least he's sitting alone."

"Dr Evil Spawn." Izzie spat. "At least that's some sort of conciliation."

"He thinks Shepherd's hitting on you." George blurted out. "You better watch yourself."

Christina tried to contain her laughter but Izzie didn't notice. "I don't think he is at all. Anyway, he's not my type. The hair's a bit too overly-moused."

Meredith giggled in agreement. Then again, his _overly-moused_ hair was one of those things that just made him so intriguing to her. He was probably just your average latte sipping, high-rise apartment, sport's car driving rich man, but something about him was different, made him more then your common upper-class socialite. Well, she hoped there was something different.

Suddenly one of her alarms on her phones went off.

"Ergh." She sighed, turning the alarm off. "It's 1:30. I've gotta check up on Miss World. Wish me luck."

Meredith got up from her seat and picked up her tray.

"Do it for World Peace!" She heard Christina shout after her as she walked away.

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"Pop this in."

Derek handed Katie the thermometer and she chucked it in her mouth.

"No, under the tongue."

Katie sighed then slowly placed it under her tongue and closed her mouth.

"Excellent. Just going to check your reflexes if you could just lie down, make sure you don't choke on the thermometer though." Derek joked.

Katie rolled her eyes. Derek moved to the side of the bed and picked up one of Katie's legs by the knee. Hitting it with his hammer he watched as her thigh twitched then moved on to the other knee.

"Great, there's no sign of damage with the surgery." He smiled as he put her leg down. The thermometer beeped. "And no fever." He picked it out from her mouth and looked on the screen. Throwing it in one of the pans he put his hand on Katie's forehead, not noticing her blushing.

"Yep, everything's in great shape." He put his hands in his pockets happily.

"Dr Shepherd." Came a slightly surprised voice from the hallway.

Derek swerved around to see Meredith standing at the door, Katie's medical chart in hand.

"Dr Grey." He said in his best professional voice, trying to hide the excitement he felt inside from seeing her again. "I was meaning to see you."

"Ah," Meredith began to walk into the room. "I thought I was going to do the exam with Katie."

"It's fine, I was here anyway. It was no problem." He tried to give his best look, the one that convinced female patients to have the surgery and the one that convinced Addison to go on a date with him. Meredith continued to look the same. She was immune. For some reason that just made Derek like her more.

"It's no problem at all." Came the voice of Katie behind him, still blushing and looking quite mesmerised. Meredith smiled.

"I see you've got it all under control Dr Shepherd." She began to walk out of the room.

"I'll talk to Bailey." Derek blurted out after her, trying to make her stay. She turned around, now smiling. Dammit Derek, calm down. "Get you a new case." He stuttered.

"Thank you." She answered simply then turned down the hallway out of sight.

What the hell was happening? Derek doesn't stutter.

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**NB: Yeah, that was a bit of fleshing out some Mer/Der and the interns so I hope you enjoyed it. **

**But you want to know the reason I am so amazingly happy? I just so the new House (HOUSE/CAM HUG!!!) and tomorrow yes TOMORROW, there is ALL NEW GREY'S!!!! Teehee hee hee hee!!!!**

**And yes, I am giddy as a school girl, but that doesn't mean I don't need reviews, cause I do! Because if I don't, I won't be inspired to write, and when I'm not inspired to write, I either write really shitty chapters or not write at all. Luckily you guys are all champions so that hasn't happened yet, but you never know… (alien/conspiracy music) - #do do do-do, do do do-do # - **


	9. Chapter IX

**The Scientist – Chapter IX**

"Welcome, my interns, to the glorious pit on a very stupid Saturday night!"

Bailey stood at the door of the pit, arms open as she swayed the tide of whining interns. "This, with all it's blood and sutures, is my gift for you."

"I need a drink." Christina groaned into Meredith's ear.

"Shh." She whispered harshly. Bailey looked at the two strangely for a second then looked around to survey the scene.

"Karev, you're over there with the pregnant woman; O'Malley, you're with the cyclist; Stevens, take the ambulance; Yang, sutures."

"Come on." Christina moaned.

"Sutures." Bailey reinforced articulately. "And Grey, you're with the patient over there."

"Where?" Meredith looked around.

"Behind that curtain. What are you guys waiting for? Go!"

Meredith quickly hustled away to the curtain then opened it.

There were two beefy men, one sitting on the bed and another sitting on the chair besides it. Meredith stopped short. The strange thing was not that they were two men with very manly handlebar moustaches; the strange thing was they were both wearing Lycra suits. Lycra _leotards_ to be more specific. And tights. Very tight tights.

The man sitting down stood up quickly as Meredith opened the curtains.

"Hi, I'm Julian, this is Matt." He came up to her with his hand out, Meredith nervously shook it.

"Ah, you're _The Crusher_?" Meredith looked down at Julian's chest where there was bold red writing. Julian followed her sight and looked down.

"Yes, of course."

"What have we got Grey?" Bailey walked up to Meredith.

"Ah, Men in Tights." Meredith looked round to Bailey who looked in disbelief at the patient's taste in fashion.

"Hi, I'm Julian and this is Matt." Julian again went up to shake Bailey's hand.

"So um, what happened here?" Bailey unfolded her arms and scratched her head.

"We were wrestling." Matt said calmly.

"Wrestling?" Came a voice from the other side of the pit.

"Get back to work Karev." Bailey ordered sharply. She looked back to Matt and Julian. "So you were wrestling."

"Yeah, and I hit him with the chair." Julian said guiltily.

"The chair?" Meredith and Bailey exclaimed in unison, raising their eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, we do like mock wrestling." Matt saw the looks of confusion on their faces. "WWE? We fake the hits. You want a popular smack-down you've got to use the chair. Usually you trip them just before you use it so you can create the allusion of being hit, but when Julian tried to trip me, I didn't fall."

"He had a concussion." Julian added nervously. "He was knocked out for a few minutes then got back up."

"We thought the safest thing would be to go to the hospital you know, see if nothing's wrong." Matt looked apprehensively at Meredith and Bailey

Meredith walked up to Matt and held up her torch as she looked at both of his eyes then in his ears. Putting her torch away she looked at the top of his head.

"There's a minimal lesion in the occipital region, nothing too drastic. There's no blood in the ears and his pupils are responsive."

"So how do you proceed Dr Grey?"

"Just to be safe we should get him a CT to check for any haemorrhaging."

"Good. Grey, take Matt here to the CT and get his scans. Come directly to me when you get them."

Meredith nodded and brought out the wheelchair for Matt. Bailey looked at the two men then walked away, shaking her head.

"Men in tights killing themselves with furniture. And they wonder if they should go to the hospital. The mental ward is where they belong." Bailey mumbled under her breath.

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Derek looked at his Omega. He remembered when he first got it, only a couple of weeks after he started dating Addison. He remembered when she saw him at the bar she cracked up laughing because Derek would be the last person she'd expect to be wearing an Omega or a Rolex. Derek was never that kind of person, but had been led into that world through Addison. He didn't blame her for anything, at the time he let her turn him into a quasi-socialite more than freely. When he loved her, he didn't care about anything else.

When did he stop loving her? Addison cheating on him was the catalyst for him to realise that he just stopped loving her the way he did when he married her. Addison cheating didn't hurt because of the end of the marriage, it hurt because she was family, she was his friend, and she and his best friend lied to him. They stabbed him in the back and Derek knew he just had to leave. Which is handy, seeing how now there's Meredith.

_Is Meredith a rebound?_

No, she can't be. Derek couldn't think of any time around Addison he had felt as he did now over an intern who had suddenly become "_a thing" _after only five days at work. That's willpower for you.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened. Derek sighed in fatigue and closed his eyes as the heavy metal doors closed once more.

"Hey."

Derek nearly jumped and quickly opened his eyes to see Meredith standing there next to him.

"What are you doing here?" He blurted out uncontrollably.

"On call in the pit. Bailey's punishing us." Meredith smiled at Derek but suddenly stopped. "What are _you_ doing here on a Saturday night?"

"I, ah…honestly?" Derek grinned at Meredith. "I have nothing better to do."

"Seriously?" She looked at him sceptically.

"Seriously." Derek chuckled and sighed, running his hand through his hair. He saw Meredith shoot a glance at him. "But cut me some slack, I've only been here for a week."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I moved from New York."

"What made you move to Seattle?" Meredith turned to face Derek and crossed her arms, obviously becoming interested.

Derek stopped short.

He should tell her. He has an obligation to her to tell her _now_. If something happens and they get together, if they date, the truth's going to come out sometime. And when it does, it will cause more damage than if he told her before. But if he tells her now, all chances of them being together would be lost and never regained. Not only would he be her boss, but he'd also be _married_.

"Just needed a change of scenery."

"You travelled across the continent for a change of scene? Interesting, very _aloof. _Must be why I like you."

"You like me?" Derek smiled at her mischievously, eyes twinkling.

"Yes." Meredith pouted. "I do. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No."

Meredith smiled as Derek looked her up and down suggestively.

"I like you too."

The doors opened.

"CT scans." Meredith smiled as she walked out of the elevator.

"I'll see you later!" Derek called out as the doors closed.

Pouting is not good for his self-restraint, he has to work on that.

Actually, screw it. He likes the pouting, he likes the flirting. Why the hell would he want it to stop?

_Addison_

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**NB: No, I am not bringing Addison in (even though I absolutely love her) but seriously, the guy just found his wife rooting his best friend only a week ago, he's going to be thinking about it a lot. Who the hell wouldn't? But now there's Meredith, and he has absolutely no idea what to do because he wants to be with her more than anything, but he's also worried that he might hurt her in the end, which, in fact, he did. But let's just wave that thought for a second.**

**Basically, Addison would have been circling round in his head for while when he got to Seattle, and you'd need to know that, because it shows that his side isn't as easy as Meredith thinks. **

**Sorry for boring you with my mindless ramblings in my Author's Notes. I shall slim them down if you want, or fatten them down, just review and all shall be yours. Actually no. Chicken rat soup. No idea why I said that but please review! You're all champs you are.**


	10. Chapter X

**The Scientist – Chapter X**

"You got them?"

Bailey moved away from a patient as she was wheeled away from the nurse and walked up to Meredith as she entered the pit.

"Yeah."

Meredith handed Bailey the scans.

"You looked at them?" Bailey began to pull the films up and hold them up into the light.

"Not yet."

"Dammit." Bailey looked closely at the scans. "He's haemorrhaging. We have to get him into an OR."

Bailey chucked the films over to Meredith then walked briskly to the covered bed, whisking the curtains away quickly.

"Where is he?" She demanded quickly as Julian stood up in surprise.

"Ah, just sleeping."

Bailey moved up to the bed. "Matt?" She shook him lightly. "Wake up."

He didn't wake up. Checking his pulse Bailey pulled out her torch and opened his eyes, checking each one.

"He's bleeding into his brain. Grey, page Dr Shepherd and prep him for surgery."

Bailey put her torch back in her pocket and walked away quickly, leaving Meredith alone with Julian, both in slight shock.

"He needs surgery?" Julian asked meekly.

"Yes."

"Because of the chair."

"Yes."

"Ok then."

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"Derek!"

Meredith rushed down the hallway to Derek as he opened the door to the scrub room and turned around.

"Dr Grey." He said as Meredith approached him. "We meet again."

"Yes, thank god the guy's bleeding into his brain." Meredith mumbled sarcastically as she entered the scrub room as Derek held the door open.

"Scrubbing in?" Derek let the door close.

"If that's ok. Bailey said I could." Meredith looked up cautiously.

"That's fine. I like having you in there." Derek said slyly as he picked up a bar of soap.

"What, you operate better with me?" Meredith asked jokingly.

"Yes." He answered simply, more occupied in cleaning his hands.

Shit. Meredith had to swallow hard as she tried to resist the urge to grab him by the side of his head and give him one hell of a kiss. Luckily the nurse and the patient were waiting just behind the glass so she couldn't.

Damn glass windows.

"Shall we?" Derek shook the water off his hands and picked up a towel.

"What?" Meredith's thoughts vanished. "Oh, yes. Ok."

She shuffled behind him as she dried her hands and entered the operating room.

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Derek picked out the non-existent dirt under his fingers and picked up the soft soap and it squished under his touch. Scrubbing till he got to the hard core of the soap he looked up as Meredith came to the door of the scrub room and pressed the door button. The glass doors slid open and Meredith pulled of her surgical gown, chucking it into the bin.

"They've closed him and wheeled him off to post-OP." She said, turning on the water and picking up the soap Derek had left in the sink.

"I saw." Derek looked up out the glass window to see an empty ER as the last nurse rolled up the rest of the surgical instruments and walked out of the patient's door.

They were alone.

Obviously Meredith hadn't noticed, she was still busily scrubbing her hands clean. Or maybe she did notice but was trying to avoid it. But she did say she liked him. She _did_ say that.

"So," He picked up a paper towel and leaned on the sink. "What did you think of the surgery?"

"It was good." Meredith dropped the soap and rinsed her hands. "Textbook operation. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Derek continued to dry his already dry hands. "Have you been to that bar across the road yet?"

"Are you asking me for a drink?" Meredith smiled coyly as she picked up a towel and leaned next to him on the sink.

"Would it be wrong if I did?" Derek tilted his head.

"Yes." She answered easily.

"Do you have the intern/attending relationship rulebook?"

"Yes I do, and even if it was allowed, I can't do it, because I'm still on call." Meredith got up from leaning on the sink, chucked her paper towel on the bin and faced Derek, only two feet away.

Derek's stomach suddenly turned. Meredith was there in front of him, smiling lightly as she looked into his eyes. Derek tried to smile but could not hide the look of apprehension on his face. _Meredith_. Oh god's she beau…

Derek unknowingly moved forward and kissed her. Quickly he opened up his eyes as he realised what he was doing but closed them again as he felt Meredith's state of shock then her relaxing in his arms.

He was kissing Meredith. Oh holy god.

Derek moved closer to her and pressed himself against her as he opened his mouth more, wanting the kiss to last forever. Derek felt Meredith's hand running up his back to his neck as she began slowly to open up her mouth.

Suddenly she stopped.

Pulling herself back Meredith looked at Derek in shock then looked quickly down at her pager.

"I have to go." She said abruptly as she tore herself away from Derek and rushed out of the room.

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**NB: And so Meredith is freaked out. Not freaked out about Derek, because come on, it's _Derek_. No, she's freaked out because she realised that she's kissing her boss. And she's not used to that, because she hasn't slept with him and gone through that state of shock yet.**

**Anywho, I was going to give Derek some long and rambling description of Meredith as she stood there in front of him, before he kissed her. But then I thought screw it. Derek is closer to Meredith than he had ever been before and his stomach is tied up. He's not going to have eloquent, literate descriptions going through his mind. Just "holy fuck. Fuck fuck fuck."**

**And I totally screwed up my sensor I enforced in the chapter by writing that just then. Good one.**

**Anywho, you guys are the best reviewer's I've had so if you could keep that up, I'll love you all forever, maybe as much as I love Callie giving '_the stare'_.**


	11. Chapter XI

**The Scientist – Chapter XI**

"Can we move into your house?"

"No."

"Can we move into your house?"

"No."

"Can we move into your house?"

Meredith sat slumped on the spare gurney with George, Izzie, Alex and Christina in the basement hallway where Bailey would not catch them. It was just past twelve and they were having their dinner of Doritos and slightly old coke. Meredith had just kissed Derek, and all she was thinking about was '_what does this mean?_'

"No."

George grunted and sat himself up on the gurney. "Why not?"

"Because you work with me. We spend all of our time at the hospital, if we lived together as well we'll probably be at each other's throats in a month." Meredith recited what she had said many times before, unable to think of another reason because her mind was currently swamped with the problem of Derek. He's her _boss_ for god's sake.

"Why do want to move so badly O'Malley? Your mom find your stash of porn?"

"Who invited Alex down here?" George quickly insisted.

"Come on Meredith," Izzie tired to warm her up. "You know what the market's like in Seattle. You have the best offer out there, and since we all work with each other it would be easier living together because we all have the same work hours."

Meredith didn't look impressed.

"And I can cook!" Izzie continued. "And I'm an _obsessive _cleaner."

"Would you just let them move in already?" Christina groaned as she rolled over on her side next to Meredith. "I swear they're never going to shut up."

"Thanks Christina." George added sarcastically.

Christina was right, Meredith didn't want to hear anything about this anymore. She had more important things on her mind come half an hour ago.

"Fine, you can move in." Meredith said dully.

George and Izzie leaped off the gurney in a shriek and then danced a stupid dance. Alex groaned and checked his pager as he got up from the gurney.

"I'm going to go before they bring out the maracas." He mumbled as he walked down the hallway.

"Thank you so much Meredith, you won't regret it." Izzie enthused.

"I already am." Meredith mumbled.

"Of course." Izzie stopped dancing. "Thank you thank you thank you. We'll leave you now while we go and celebrate." She picked up her packet of chips and mug.

"Thank god." Christina groaned.

Meredith watched as George hurried after Izzie as she walked down the hall, giving out a shriek as George and passed her and gave her a huge congratulatory hug. Meredith stared at the ceiling and waited for the noise of the other two to disappear.

Dammit that was a good kiss. But the bad thing was he was her boss. No, the bad thing was that she wanted to do it again. And again. She has to somehow face Derek and tell him that this can't happen any more, though it would probably make no difference to him. Stupid Derek. What the hell was she going to do now?

"I kissed Derek." Meredith blurted out. Fuck.

Christina stared at the ceiling with her. "Who's Derek?"

Meredith should have kept her mouth shut, just keep her mouth shut.

"Dr Shepherd." She answered blankly.

"_McDreamy??_" Meredith could hear Christina sitting up on the gurney in shock. "You kissed Dr McDreamy? Why the hell did you do that?"

"I don't know, he was there and he was him. I just, I couldn't help it."

"Yeah you could." Christina answered manner-of-factly, still in disbelief.

"How?" Meredith looked up at her.

"What about 'no McDreamy I will not kiss you.' "

"Seriously?" Meredith looked at Christina sceptically.

"Ok, maybe not. But still, he's our boss."

"He's _all_ of our boss."

"Yeah." Christina replied lamely.

Meredith looked up at the ceiling once more, while Christina tried to process what had happened.

"I just don't know what to do now."

"Do you like him?"

"No. I mean, yeah. I do." Meredith sighed. "Dammit. I like him."

"Terrible news." Christina replied sarcastically.

"It is." Meredith glared at Christina.

"Well, why don't you talk to him or something?"

"Because he's my boss, if I go out with my boss I mean, what can they do, throw me out of the program?"

"They wouldn't do that after kissing an attending. Just as long as you stop it now there will be no problem."

"Ok." Meredith looked blankly up at the ceiling. "I'll stop it. I will."

Christina rolled her eyes and jumped off the gurney. "Whatever you say Meredith."

Meredith listened as Christina walked down the hallway. She had to stop it with Derek. It won't be hard, just have to explain that she can't gamble her career on some fling. Easy. He'll understand, and they'll return to a platonic relationship. Good.

Dammit he's a good kisser.

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**NB:** **Aha! Just when you think Mer is gaining some more self-control she lets it go as quick as she picked it up. That's why we love her. Well, that's one of the reasons why I love her. **

**Sorry for such a short chap but I just wanted to get that bit up so I can get onto the next day, and get to Meredith trying to tell Derek that it's over. But like that will ever happen. **

**Anywhos, most people say "Read, Love, Review" at the end of their stories but I think that's a tad too imperative and forceful for you champs. So instead, if you read it and then review it, I will love _you_!! Hopefully that works better. **


	12. Chapter XII

**The Scientist – Chapter XII**

_I'm sorry Dr Shepherd but this can't go on any more. You are my boss, and you have to respect the rules, as they are in place for a reason. Imagine if people found out about this, they will think you are giving me special privileges. I will be fired from the program or even just slowly pushed out. You may have nothing to lose from this but I'm still an intern. I will be happy to have a friendship with you as a work colleague but nothing more._

Meredith ran through the speech once more in her head as she pressed her hand on the biker's side and pulled the needle through. She had just decided that Alex was a jerk.

"You've got a nice touch." Meredith snipped the rest of the thread as the English guy sat up in the gurney. "By the way you are a rocking babe."

Meredith glared at him. "Seriously, you actually think you have a shot here?"

"I like to think I have a shot anywhere." He replied with a smile and a cocky English accent.

Meredith tried to ignore the good-looking Englishman with a hot English accent who was smiling at her by covering his sutures. "Look you know you really have to let me take you for some tests, run a CT. You could have internal bleeding."

"No thank you I've got a race to get back to."

Dead Baby Bike Day? Like Bailey said, natural selection is what it is.

Meredith looked up a the Brit. "Why? You can't win now anyway."

"Doesn't mean I can't cross that finish line. There's a party at the finish line." He moved closer to Meredith and whispered. "D'ya wanna meet me there?"

Meredith glared at him. "One test. A CT. I'll have you out of here in an hour."

"I can't do it, gotta go."

"Ok, well, you get that you're leaving against medical advice and that I strongly urge to stay."

"The frat guy said I could go."

"The frat guy is an arse." The Englishman smiled. "Ok, well, you have to sign an AMA form."

The Brit sat up in the gurney and leaned in closer to Meredith. "Darling, I will do anything you want me to."

Meredith glowered at the Englishman as he smirked at her. "What is it, with you guys, and your need to dirty everything up?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's just testosterone hey?"

"Maybe. You might want to see a doctor about that too."

The man smiled at her for a second then grabbed the chart and signed it. Hopping off the gurney, Meredith turned from him as he walked past her. Suddenly she felt a pull of the arm and the next second she was kissing him.

Great Meredith, she's managed to have two illegal kisses in two days. She really needs to rethink her flirting tactics with guys.

Meredith then realised again that she was kissing a patient and let go. The Brit pulled back and smiled at her. "That was for good luck."

Meredith glared at him as he walked out the door. "Don't worry babe I'll see you again." He said as he shut the door.

"For your sake I hope not!" She shouted to him as he passed the window.

Flustered, Meredith began to take the sheets off the gurney. Stupid patient. Stupid Derek. Why did they have to kiss _her_? Isn't there thousands of other women to kiss? But _no, _her boss has to decide to be all hot and flirty, so she has no choice but to kiss him. She has a choice now. She has a choice…

Meredith looked up to see Derek standing at the other window, looking into the room.

Shit.

Meredith quickly turned around and tried to busy herself when she stiffened up as she heard the door open.

"You make out with patients now?" Meredith swerved round to see Derek standing at the door. This was it, just say it.

"I'm sorry Dr Shepherd but I can't…" Meredith began to stammer as Derek tilted his head and looked at her curiously.

"Do what?" Derek asked.

"Huh?"

"Can't do what?"

Meredith fidgeted with the sheet still in her hands. "I can't… we can't…" She threw the sheet into the bin then finally looked up at Derek. "I'm an intern. You're my boss."

"I think we've covered that." Derek said softly, a smile creeping on to his mouth.

"But you don't seem to remember it." Meredith said frantically, the only thing really stopping her from kissing Derek again where the windows into the hallways on either side of the room.

"Look," Derek stepped towards her and closed the door. "Is there any other reason this can't happen, besides me being your boss?"

Meredith looked at Derek for a moment and tried to think. She can't want to go out with him. She has to say it's over, what ever _'it'_ was in the first place. But yet here she was, pausing to think what was stopping them, even though the main thing that was stopping them was a huge fuck-off obstacle.

Derek smiled softly as he looked at Meredith. "Got anything?"

"I'm trying to think." She glared at Derek, tyring to seem as angry as possible. Derek just grinned.

"See? I've got a surgery to go to, but take your time. Think about it." Derek looked her up and down for a second then turned around and opened the door, walking out of the room and down the hall.

Meredith stood there, trying to think of another reason. But she couldn't. Or maybe she just didn't want to. If that was the case, she was screwed, because that meant that she liked him a lot, and nothing was going to stand in the way of them. Which was bad, because there was something standing in the way of them. And if anyone else knew they crossed that line, she's be screwed. In both senses of the word.

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**NB: Anyone speak Finnish? I sure don't, and yet I'm going to Finland for a year this Saturday evening. Which is bad because I have to learn Finnish, and that is one hell of a fucking hard language to learn. You know what it's related to? Mongolian. How the hell does that work?**

**So you can see why I said to myself before that I can't write any more fictions after my first two. And yet I'm writing this and another one at the same time. Not a very good idea.**

**Anywho, this chap starts off with episode 3, so sorry for all those who don't like me copying episodes, I only do it if I need to. And in this case, I needed to. **

**But yes, you guys who review are all bloody champions (that's another phrase you can pick up for _"G'Day USA"_) but if you keep it up… you just… I love you!! #tear#**


	13. Chapter XIII

**The Scientist – Chapter XIII**

"_Is there any other reason this can't happen, besides me being your boss?"_

Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that I'm still married.

Derek walked down the hallway after talking to Meredith in the emergency room. He didn't know why, but when he saw the patient kissing her he felt the cold stab of jealousy. Only for a second, but a second was enough to realize that he can't tell her about Addison, because otherwise she will never kiss him again, and right now, at that second, he couldn't think about never kissing Meredith again. For some reason, after only being in the same room as her for a sum total of less than an hour (surgeries not included), he felt sick in his stomach when the thought of never kissing Meredith came to his mind.

But he was married. That's one hell of a reason. Actually a bigger reason than work place highrachy and yet he could not tell Meredith. He was digging himself into a hole and there was no way of getting out. That one kiss sealed his deal so that from now on, there was no way of breaking the news to Meredith without telling her.

We'll wait. Addison's still all the way in New York and hasn't called him yet. She has a life in New York; she wouldn't come all the way over to Seattle. Derek could handle this. He could handle this.

Walking into another patient's room Derek shafted his thoughts to the back of his mind, determined not to think of them while at work.

It was just over five hours he had managed not to think about Meredith until she came up to him in the corridor as he studied the surgical board. Seeing her approach him as Yang and Stevens waited down the hall, Derek stiffened up and looked back at the board.

"Derek?" He looked over to see Meredith next to him.

"You thought of a reason?" Derek smiled. He couldn't let her go this easily.

"Not yet." She smiled.

"What's up?"

"I need to find a way to get to Burke."

"You like Burke now?" He smiled mischievously.

"Not funny. This is serious. I need him to do a surgery."

"What's wrong with the surgery?"

"The guy's 5 minutes out from being called officially dead." She said simply.

Derek raised his eyebrows in surprise then coughed and looked serious to mirror Meredith's face.

"You want to get around Burke? You've got to find a way to get the chief involved."

Meredith stared at him for a second. "Thank you."

"No problems." Derek did his best dreamy look as Meredith turned around and joined the other interns as they looked excited then scattered away. Meredith turned back and looked at Derek once more before she followed the two of them.

She can't think of anything else. That's good. That's very good. Addison won't be a problem, Derek can do this. He can.

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**NB: Yes, I know, sorry. Very short update, just been hell-a busy today packing stuff up. The next few days I'll try and post some up but I'm not promising anything for a while, I've got a plane to catch and a language camp to go on. But believe me, whenever I have the slightest chance to write and update, I will, because seriously, I'm addicted to this fanfiction thing. Just can't help writing these stories and ideas that pop up in my brain. So I hope you're enjoying it.**

**And while we're talking about the Finnish language, it is like Hungarian as well, but both languages trace back to Mongolian because of the Mongolian hoards. Cool huh? But that's just ol' nerdy me talking.**

**Anywho, don't worry, next chapter will have Mer/Der actually talking about what the hell all this means, and I hope it shall be a lot longer. Sorry bout this again, and please review!!**


	14. Chapter XIV

**The Scientist – Chapter XIV**

Derek walked into the on-call room and closed the door behind him. He was exhausted. It had only been six hours since he started work but he had no sleep the night before because the constant debate about Meredith and Addison ran through his head. Chucking off his phone and his pagers on the top bunk, Derek moved his hands down to the rim of his scrubs shirt and began to pull it up when the door opened.

Meredith stood at the door for a second started then quickly closed the door on her. Derek was left in the room alone, hands still in stationary position of lifting off his scrubs, contemplating whether he should run after her or get some well-earned sleep. Before he could think the door opened again and Meredith stormed in, slamming the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Meredith attacked him.

"Ah…" Derek remained still, hands still holding his scrubs,"

"You're my boss! Aren't you supposed to have some sort of responsibility? But _no_, you have to kiss me, you have to ask me whether there's anything else standing in the way. You're my boss!! I think that's a good enough reason by a long shot! But you still keep cracking onto me. Aren't there a whole lot of gynaecologists to choose from? Why the hell did you choose an intern? I have enough problems as it is! I have family problems, I have work problems, I have room-mate problems, so why did you have to kiss me??"

"Specifically…" Derek ventured.

"No." Meredith cut him off. "You where the one who kissed me first. _You_ started it. This is your fault."

"What's my fault?" A smile began to creep onto Derek's face.

"This! You kissing me, me screaming at you. You doing your freaking _McDreamy _thing. I mean come on, how the hell can I reject that?"

"You don't have to." Derek tried to sneak through.

"Shut up." Meredith glared at him. "You've already made things as bad as they could, you don't need to make it worse. I'm doing the talking now."

"Meredith…" Derek tried to calm her down.

"No. You have to respect the rules; they were put in there for a reason and you… you have to respect the rules! If we do… what you want to do and we get caught they will think I'm getting privileges and be edged out of the program. You don't have anything to prove. _I do._"

Meredith stood for a while in front of Derek, glaring at him as she tried to calm down. Meredith quickly turned to the door and put her hand on the handle when suddenly she swerved back and grabbed on to Derek, pulling him in as she kissed him passionately.

Derek, started at first, kissed her back and brought his hands to her delicate stomach as he began to slowly lift up her scrubs. Meredith jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his waist as he picked her up and stumbled over to the bottom bunk and lay her down on the bed, moving on top of her as he pulled off her scrubs over her head. Derek pulled off his shirt and began to kiss her again as she hurriedly tried to undo his knot on his scrubs pants. Derek pulled back for a second and smiled at her.

"So does this count as a special privilege?"

Meredith giggled then kissed him again, pulling him down to the bed so he lay on his back as she undid his pants and pulled them off.

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**NB: and then they realised they both loved scones and had a tea party. Well, I could see that happening. I really could! Ok, maybe not. **

**But congrats to Grey's for getting best drama (go Hugh Laurie!!! Love Hugh Laurie!!) If I was doing one of those bloody disclaimers (sorry, don't like them) I would probably include that as a joke, but thankfully, I don't do them. **

**Anywho, Meredith and Derek finally had sex. And I say finally because they didn't have sex to start off with. The funny thing was, when I set out writing this fic, I thought there was going to be a huge difference, but when you get Derek and Meredith in a room, you just can't seem to get them off each other, no matter what had happened before. And that's why we love them. Should have been called Rabbit's Anatomy.**

**Anywho, if you could drop of a review I'd love it! Thanks heaps guys!!**


	15. Chapter XV

**The Scientist – Chapter XV**

Meredith rushed into the surgical gallery and quickly sat down next to George as the others watched in on Burke's John Doe heart surgery.

"Where were you?" Christina peered over at Meredith, now breathless.

"Nowhere." She said defensively, eyes turning back to the surgery to change the conversation.

She had sex with Derek. Oh holy shit she had sex with Derek. What the hell happened? What did this mean? She had sex with Derek. Crap, crap, crap. Crap. She remembers sleeping with him, closing her eyes for a while afterwards then him being paged. Pretending she was asleep she heard him roll of the bed, get dressed and kiss her on the cheek as he left quickly. As soon as he shut the door Meredith quickly chucked all her clothes on and ran out of the door, afraid of realising exactly what she had just done. She has to avoid him, she can't see him. She can't believe what she just did. Boss. Crap. Shit.

_I wonder what he's doing tonight?_

No. Stop it Meredith. No tonight.

Meredith glared down at Alex as he stood next to Burke in the OR, tyring to get her mind to concentrate on something else.

"I seriously hate that guy." Christina glared at Alex as he moved closer to the body cavity.

"Alex is vermin. That surgery is ours." Meredith stared fiercely at Alex.

"At least Burke is doing the surgery, I don't care about Alex." Izzie looked over to George. "George, you did good."

George simply looked down at the surgery in fright. "I'm going to have to dodge Burke for the rest of my career." He leaned over and whispered to Meredith. "He could kill me and make it look like an accident."

The door opened and a nurse walked into the gallery. "The police called, they've identified your John Doe, his wife is on the way."

Izzie jumped off her seat and followed the nurse out of the gallery as Christina sat up slowly. Meredith looked at her quickly.

"You're going?" She asked, almost too urgently.

"Ah, yeah." Christina looked at her strangely. "Is that ok?"

"Of course! I mean yeah, go. Your patient's wife…is coming."

Christina looked at Meredith suspiciously once more and then walked out of the room. George looked down at Burke as he finished off the surgery then glanced at Meredith, leaning in to her again and whispering.

"The dark man walks alone!"

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Meredith chucked open her locker and threw her bag in as she took of her scrubs and pulled out her shirt, buttoning it up quickly. She had to get away from the hospital quickly or else she might burst. She had sex with Derek and he's her boss. But what was worse, she wanted to do it again. Stupid Derek. She had to get out now. Looking quickly at her buzzing pager the locker room door flung open as Alex walked into the room.

"God I smell good!" He walked up to his locker, chest puffed out with testosterone. Meredith glared at him. "You know what it is? It's the smell of open heart surgery!" Meredith rolled her eyes. "It's awesome, it is _awesome_." He moved up to Meredith. "You got to smell me."

"I don't want to smell you." Meredith said seriously as Alex wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh yes you do."

That's it.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Meredith grabbed Alex's arms and shoved him against his locker. "Ok, I have more important things to deal with than you. I have room-mates, and boy problems, and family problems." Alex yawned playfully. "You wanna act like a frat-boy bitch, that's fine. You wanna take credit for your saves, and everybody else's, that's fine too." Meredith heard the door open but grabbed Alex's chin as he tried to look away. "Just stay out of my face. And for the record: you smell like crap!" Meredith glanced over at the door.

Crap.

Covering her eyes from the gaze of Derek as he stood at the door Meredith went back to her locker and tried to calm down. Alex looked over to Derek who looked at him accusingly. "She attacked me!"

Before she knew it Meredith was back trying to grapple with Alex, but Derek shoved himself between them, holding Meredith at bay.

"Meredith, Meredith, Meredith, Meredith!" Derek tried to calm her down as he pushed her back. He then turned to Alex. And dragged him to the door. "You know what, you might wanna leave. Before I change my mind and let her beat you to a pulp with her tiny ineffectual fists." He closed the door on Alex then turned to Meredith.

"You ok?" He looked at her calmly at the door.

"Fine." Meredith shoved her stuff in her bag and closed her locker.

"You wanna get something to eat? Vent a bit over wine?"

Meredith walked up to him and looked up at him sadly. "I can't."

Derek kept looking at her as he opened the door for Meredith who quickly walked out.

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**NB: Hmmm, what will happen? They've had sex, yes, but will Meredith allow herself to go out with Derek? Yes, we're back in good ol' season 1, before all the angst and Addison (even though I love Addison). **

**Anywho, I just have to say that the scene I used in this chap is one of my favourite _Grey's_ scenes ever. Just can keep on watching it over and over again. In fact, I think it's one of my favourite episodes, except I find Izzie annoying in this ep I guess.**

**But enough of what I think, I want to hear what you think! And the only way you can do that is by reviewing! Because seriously, that's the main reason people write fanfiction, for it to be read and enjoyed. Which I hope it is. Thanks anyway!**


	16. Chapter XVI

**The Scientist – Chapter XVI (Direct From Finland!!)**

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

Christina dropped her pen and swivelled round in her chair to glare at Meredith who was sitting at the desk on the other side of the office, watching Christina instead of filling out her forms.

"Ok, you're watching me. And unless you've suddenly become lesbian, you want to tell me something. So what is it?"

Meredith glanced away from Christina and turned back to her forms. "Nothing."

"Then stop looking at me!" Christina exclaimed.

"Fine." Meredith tried to continue filling out the forms. "It's just…"

"Oh for god's sake what?" Christina swivelled back around in her chair.

"Nothing." Meredith stopped in thought for a moment. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"Glad to hear it." Christina sighed.

Tuning back to her file, Christina began to fill out her forms again then quickly type something on the computer next to her. God Meredith could be annoying. She liked Meredith; she was cynical and twisty, but not as much as Christina. Which was good. And she wasn't as good an intern as Christina, which was also good. Kept the competitive streak out of their friendship a bit. But what was annoying was that she wanted to say something and she wasn't saying. So now she's distracted from working, so now she can't fill out the forms, so now she can't scrub into the surgery. _That_ was annoying.

As she was typing in an address on the internet Christina saw Meredith from the corner of her eye. She was looking again.

Christina groaned and swivelled round in her chair once more.

"Ok, you have something to tell me so I'm just going to sit here and you tell me what it is and I'm not going to react or judge or anything. Ok?"

Meredith tried to look innocent. "What makes you think I want to tell you something?"

"Seriously?"

Meredith sat still for a moment and bit her lip in apprehension. "Ok…so I just tell you."

"Yep."

"Get it off my chest."

"Aha."

"Just let it out."

"That's all I'm asking."

"Bring it in the – "

"Just tell me!" Christina exclaimed in frustration.

Meredith looked at her feet then up at Christina again. Swivelling in her chair she turned back to the forms on her desk.

"I slept with Derek." She murmured.

"WHAT???"

Christina's face fell. Stupid, stupid, stupid Meredith. God she's thick.

"YOU – "

"Shhhh!" Meredith turned back round and glared at Christina, warning her of the people surrounding the office.

"_You slept with Dr Shepherd??_" Christina whispered harshly.

"You promised you wouldn't react."

"You slept with McDreamy." Christina countered.

"I am never telling you anything again." Meredith snapped, folding her arms.

"You were begging me to listen."

"I was not."

"Hold on, can we focus on the big thing here? You slept with Dr Shepherd! Why the hell did you do that??"

Meredith started to fidget. "I didn't… I mean it wasn't… I wasn't going to."

"Oh that changes it." Christina mumbled sarcastically.

"Shut up." Meredith glared. "I just… It was one thing. One time. What happened before with us is over."

"Look what happened when you said that last time."

"He's my boss!"

"Yeah."

Meredith bit her lip in thought for a moment. "So what do I do? Do I talk to him?"

"Would any advice I give make any difference whatsoever?"

Meredith sat in silence. "No."

"Then why ask?"

"Comfort?"

Christina sighed and looked around though the plastic slits of the blinds. She didn't want to hurt Meredith. "Look, I'm not practised in the art of personal relations with my boss. I don't know what's going to happen or what you should do. You slept with an attending. You slept with your boss. You have to fix this somehow, but I don't know how."

Meredith glanced down at her file and smiled lightly. She looked back up at Christina.

"Thanks."

Closing her file Meredith stood up from the chair, picked up the file and walked out of the office.

That went better than Christina had expected. There was a reason why she liked her.

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**NB: Ehe. Hi there. Hmmm, quite a wait between chapters I know but I have a reason. Am in Finland on a language camp so have been writing these chapters in little bites. The idea for this particular chapter came while learning pronouns. Fun!**

**Anywho, sorry for the wait, love writing this story. And yeah, was strange cause I was only going to do Meredith and Derek's perspective for this story but when I came to this chapter I went stuff it. I want Christina. So this is my special edition chapter. Woot! Hope you like. If so: review!! I got through to someone recently (though on other story) so hopefully I can do it to you as well! #sends thought messages# Excellent. **


	17. Chapter XVII

**The Scientist – Chapter XVII**

Meredith looked at her watch then finished stuffing her locker with her jeans and bag. Closing the locker and clipping on her pager she picked up her venti coffee and took a sip. It had been four days since she had sex with Derek, and it had been four days of successfully avoiding Derek. Life was good.

Of course, she hadn't yet thought about what would happen if she managed to bump into him in the hall, because let's face it, Seattle Grace isn't the best place to avoid an attending. Especially when you're an intern. But Meredith had made it with avoiding for four whole days so she was happy for now. She was a good avoider.

Meredith was knocked out of her thoughts as the door to the locker room crashed open and Christina ran in, hurriedly throwing her bag on the floor and swinging open her locker as Meredith, George, Izzie and Alex watched her curiously.

"You're late." Meredith murmured in disbelief.

"So?" Christina whipped out her scrubs and wrenched off her top.

"You're never late." Izzie began to move in.

"Well I am today." Christina said bluntly, trying to stop the others at staring at her strangely.

"Rounds!"

Everyone's head swerved to the door where Bailey now stood, hands on hips, staring at Christina who was halfway pulling on her pants.

"You're late." Bailey glared at her coolly.

Christina tried to defend herself while pulling up her pants with her sneakers still on so what was supposed to be an explanation turned into her losing balance and falling to the floor.

Everyone quickly glanced at her then up nervously at Bailey. "Let's go. Leave Christina to put on her pants."

Meredith threw a kind look to Christina then shuffled out the hallway after Bailey.

Suddenly Bailey stopped and turned around. "Oh and Grey, Dr Sheppard asked for an intern. Go check on his pre-op patient in room 2184."

Fuck.

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Derek picked up the chart at the nurses base and flicked through it as he walked through the swinging doors and down the hall through to 2184.

Meredith was avoiding him. He could tell she was avoiding him. Stupidly, Derek let her, thinking that there was no way an intern could avoid a surgical resident for more than one day. Apparently he was wrong.

But maybe she needed time to recoup. Time to breathe so that she could make the rational decision. And that decision was of course to go on a date with Derek. Well, he hoped that was the rational decision. If it wasn't…Derek could not think about what would happen if it wasn't the rational decision. Derek doesn't beg, Derek doesn't _need _to beg, but right now, if she said no to him there would be nothing stopping him from falling to his knees and pleading with her.

What was he thinking? He's _Derek_. Derek doesn't do this sort of thing. He is cool, calm and collected, not some desperate freak begging girls to agree to _one _date. How the hell did this happen?

Flicking the chart closed he came to the door and stopped for a second, trying to push these thoughts to the back of his mind before he saw the patient.

Bringing in a breath he placed the chart under his arm and opened the door.

"Dr Grey."

Derek stood at the open door, a lump suddenly forming in his throat and his stomach as he saw Meredith standing at the foot of the patient's bed, writing on the chart. Meredith quickly looked up at him then nervously back down and the chart again.

"Ah…" Derek shot a glance at the patient who lay happily on the gurney, twiddling his thumbs. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't request me?" Derek could see a stain of disappointment in Meredith's surprised green eyes.

"Ah, no. I just asked Bailey for an intern." Derek looked back at the patient. "How's he going?"

Meredith looked at Derek for a moment then fiddled nervously with the chart. "Great…his heart rate is normal, pol-soc is in the 80's…"

"Fantastic." Derek smiled at the patient. "Mr Fender we're going to take you into surgery in an hour to remove your cyst in the occipital region. The anaesthesiologist will come in to ask you some questions before. That ok?"

"Fine." Mr Fender smiled happily, linking his hands together.

"Excellent. Thank you Dr Grey." Derek nodded at Meredith then walked out the door. He could hear Meredith walking out behind him. As he passed through the hall he suddenly pulled aside to the on-call room door like he was going to open it and waited for Meredith to walk past him. As she did Derek quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the on-call room, locking the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" Meredith exclaimed as Derek turned back to her as she stood in the middle of the on-call room, hands on hips.

"You've been avoiding me." Derek folded his arms.

"Your point?" Meredith raised one eyebrow.

"We had sex and since then you've been avoiding me."

"Well, what was I supposed to do? If I saw you before all you'd want to do is talk about it. Which you seem to be doing right now!"

"What's wrong with talking about it?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong with talking about it. Except for the fact that you'd be obstinate in making me go out with you and I'd just keep saying _'but you're my boss!'_ There is no point in this conversation because we know the outcome anyway!"

"And what's that?" Derek sighed.

"We…" Meredith began to breathe slowly. "We'd be work colleagues. You'd want it to be more and keep asking but I'd say no all the time. Eventually you'd get over it and we'd just be work colleagues. Friends, maybe, but nothing more."

"That doesn't count the fact that _you_ where the one that kissed _me_ four days ago." Derek smiled cheekily.

"That isn't the point." Meredith began to get flustered. "The point is, we both did something…we…this can't happen, ok? We'll both get over it and…we both know that what happened was a mistake and it won't happen again."

Derek's face dropped.

"A mistake?" For some reason, the words felt bitter in his mouth.

Meredith just looked at Derek who shifted his weight uncomfortably and crossed his arms once more. It wasn't a mistake. She wanted it, she couldn't think it was a mistake. But yet, she said it.

"Fine." Derek breathed out quickly. "You know, that's fine. You said it was a mistake so I won't, I won't bother you again."

Meredith watched him as Derek turned around annoyed and grabbed the handle of the door.

"Derek." She said softly, trying to reason with him.

Derek opened the door. "Go get the anaesthesiologist for Mr Fender." Derek murmured as he walked out of the door.

It wasn't a mistake. She was lying. She had to be lying.

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**NB: Ba Ba BA!!!!**

**And so Derek is pissed, and I think that's a thing Derek does best. Just look at the last ep (Wishin' and Hopin'), one word for Meredith's mum and he's the king of pissed. I say he his the anointed King of Passive-Agressiva. But not in that ep. **

**Anywho, am getting _way_ off track. This update was again a bit late so sorry. Hopefully you all haven't ran away and left me for dead in my absence. But then again, could just be getting paranoid. I think paranoia is the correct diagnosis.**

**So, please review!! You know you want to! Actually, you probably couldn't be screwed but seriously, what effort does it take? Sorry, will shut up.**


	18. Chapter XVIII

**The Scientist – Chapter XVIII**

Meredith gazed into the clear remains of tequila in her shot glass. She said what she had to say. The surgery with Derek was tolerable enough, but after he quickly scrubbed out and left. She didn't think he would act like this, and the thought of why just made Meredith feel worse.

Which is why she was drinking.

Slurping up the last drops of the drink she smacked down the shot glass on the counter and licked the last of the burning liquid of her lips.

"Ah, barman?" She looked up at the man walking past her behind the bar.

"Hey there." He smiled kindly.

"Could I get another tequila?"

"You better watch yourself with them." The barman looked at her for a second. "But then again, it looks like you need it." He picked up the bottle of tequila from the other side of the bar and poured it into Meredith's glass.

"You been here before?" The barman put the bottle back.

"Nup." Meredith raised her glass and shot the drink down.

"I didn't think so. Would have remembered you." The barman smiled at Meredith then went over to another customer.

Did she want it? Was it a mistake? It was, it was a mistake. But a good mistake. A great mistake. A mistake that could be so easily turned into the right thing to do. But she was an intern and he was an attending. That combination kept it as one hell of a stupid mistake. And if it was any consolation, at least she wouldn't have to avoid Derek anymore.

She needed another drink.

Someone chucked a bag on the counter next to her and Meredith glanced sideways to see Christina sitting in the stool next to her.

"Joe, give me a beer. A big one."

The barman, who Meredith now found out was named Joe, filled up a glass then put it down in front of Christina.

"How was your day?" Christina joked, seeing the shit look on Meredith's face.

"I ended it with Derek. It's done." Meredith replied dully.

"That's good." Christina said, less than enthusiastic.

"Yeah. There's nothing wrong now. It's all back to the way it was." Meredith played with her empty shot glass.

"Hmmm…" Christina murmured, taking a gulp of her beer. "Ah," She looked over at Meredith. "I kinda…you told me so…"

Meredith looked up from her glass to Christina. "What?"

"You ended it with Derek. Was it hard?"

Meredith looked at her curiously. "Why are you…?"

"It's kind of…" Christina looked nervously over her shoulder.

"What happened?" Meredith looked at her seriously.

"Burke."

"What???" Meredith whispered harshly, her face dropping. "How could you? When me and Derek – "

"It wasn't then. It was three days ago ok? I thought, maybe I…This conversation is over."

"No, you told me for a reason."

"Maybe I just needed to vent." Christina shot out, taking another gulp of her beer.

"So is it serious or something?"

"With Burke?" Christina chuckled wryly. "No. Nothing like that. It's…I don't know what it is. Right now it's just sex in an on-call room."

"You where late this morning." Meredith began to fit the pieces together. Christina nodded as she drank more of her beer.

Meredith continued to stare at her. "What are you doing?"

"What are _you_ doing?" Christina countered.

Meredith looked down at her glass once more. "Sleeping with our bosses was a stupid idea."

"Tell me about it."

"Wait, how can you talk? You're still sleeping with him."

"Hmm… I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right." Meredith lifted up the empty shot glass once more and waited determined for the last drops to fall into her mouth.

"So you've ended it with Derek." Christina looked blankly in front of her.

"Yes."

Christina looked into her beer. "What the hell am I supposed to do then?"

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Derek closed the door and laid his bag on the trailer floor, taking off his jacket and chucking it on the couch. He put his hands in his pockets and stood there still in the empty trailer.

Why did he buy a trailer? Of all the things he decided to buy a trailer. Not that he didn't like the trailer. It was nice, small, different. A return to the normal Derek after Addison. That's why he got it, it was an escape. An escape from his past, an escape from the world of New York and the woman it represented. This place was supposed to be a place where he could lick his wounds, start again, free from all the constraints in his life he had for almost 12 years.

And then there was Meredith.

Taking his hands out of his pockets Derek went over to the new kitchen and bent over to the bottom cupboard. Taking out his only bottle of scotch Derek put it on the counter then picked up the glass that stood alone in the sink, pouring out the stagnant water that filled it.

Walking over to the table he sat down on the couch and placed the glass and bottle in front of him. Pouring some scotch into the glass he picked it up and took a sip.

He really should have taken his scotch from the Brownlow.

What confused Derek though, was not why he bought the trailer, or why he left Addison, but why on earth he was hiding away in his trailer, drinking a $10 bottle of crappy scotch, over one intern saying that having sex with him _'was a mistake'_.

He knew she was just saying that to get him off her case. He knew she wanted it, that she still wants it, and that saying that was only to try and convince herself.

But no matter what he thought, he could not vanish the sting of doubt that clouded his mind.

But he didn't know why he cared so much. Meredith was just an intern he had known for less than two weeks.

And yet there he was, sulking over one tiny, miniscule thing. He wanted to be with her, he needed to be with her. For 6 days he hadn't been able to forget the feel of her lips, the sensation tingling even more when he thought about her.

It wasn't a mistake. She knew it, he knew it, and he was going to do something about it.

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**NB: Ok, so good for all of us, dark and pissy Derek didn't stay around for long. But know he's more determined to get Meredith. Will he succeed? In case you're wondering, this chapter and the one before it is set after "Shake Your Groove Thing". The question is, whether I should tamper with the time/space continuum and have that fantastic "meet Izzie's boyfriend" in one of my chapters. And change it a bit - muhahaha. So that's up to you. So review!! You know you want to, all you keen little readers. I posted this up super-quick (well, compared to my other post) for you guys!**


	19. Chapter XIX

**The Scientist – Chapter XIX**

"Hello."

Meredith stopped in her tracks as an arm appeared out of nowhere in front of her, supporting Derek as he leaned on the wall. Meredith glared at Derek as he smiled at her.

"Good morning Dr Shepherd."

Derek didn't budge. "So I was thinking, how bout I take you to dinner this Friday?"

Meredith raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Seriously? Do you not remember I thing I said? It was a mistake."

"No it wasn't it." Derek smiled cheekily.

"It wasn… What makes you think that, Dr Shepherd?"

Derek remained leaning on the wall with his arm. "Because Derek Shepherd is irresistible to all women."

Why did he say that, oh god why did he say that.

Meredith just glared at him. "Not to Meredith Grey. Get over yourself already."

Meredith pushed past Derek's arm and continued to walk down the hallway. Derek quickly followed after her, picking up his chart at the nurses desk and moving up beside her.

"Just one dinner. No funny business, just you, me, a basket full of carbs and good wine."

"It's the wine bit I'm worried about."

Derek stopped walking and Meredith turned round to look at him. "Why are you so afraid of one dinner?" He looked at her curiously. "Are you worried that something will happen again?"

"No." Meredith answered quickly. "It's just, it's not allowed. An intern dating an attending."

"Who said anything about dating?" Derek asked with faux-innocence.

"You did." She replied bluntly.

"Ok, it's not a date. Just a dinner between two colleagues. Think of it as an intern getting to know an attending. What do you say?"

Meredith looked at Derek for a second then brought her chart up to her chest. "I'm sorry Dr Shepherd but I've got a patient to check on."

Derek watched Meredith as she turned her back on him and walked down the hallway.

At least she didn't say no.

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Meredith strolled into the locker room at 4:30 with Izzie and George. Christina was already there, but moving very slowly and sculling down her huge cup of coffee. Meredith smiled as she moved up to her locker and opened.

"How you feeling?" She looked over at Christina playfully.

"I spent 15 hours last night retracting a huge fuck-off tumour for no reason." Christina groaned. "Somebody shoot me."

"Hey, you're not the only one here." George grumbled as he opened his locker.

"Quiet Bambi, it's too early in the morning for your high pitched voice." Christina moaned.

The door quickly opened to Alex running into the room then closing the door behind him. Quickly he ran to his locker and began to look occupied. The door opened again.

"I saw that Karev. You're late." Bailey appeared at the door. "You're in the pit today."

"Come on!" Alex protested.

"Pit." Bailey reinforced with a glare. "Izzie, you're with Burke. George, you're with the Chief; Grey, you're with Shepherd;" Shit. "And Yang, you're with me."

Christina let out a small groan. Meredith chucked her bag into the locker, slammed it closed and walked out of the room.

That little, conniving bastard. Trust Derek to blackmail her with surgery. She will not give in to temptation. Slightly biblical but she must not give in. She was his boss. You do not go on dates with your boss. Especially when they have great hair, are good looking, oozing charm and intelligence, are a world-class brain surgeon and for some reason are chasing after you.

This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Stuff it, she's declined his advances before (except for the whole kiss thing and the sex though – very stupid choices) why can't she do it again? She can do it. She can.

"Good morning Dr Grey."

Damn that infernal look!

"Ah…Dr Shepherd." She spattered out as Derek stood in front of her at the door of their patient.

"Clipping an aneurism in there." Derek motioned to the door, still smiling. "You want in?"

"What," Meredith looked at him sceptically. "Is this your way of leverage?"

"No." Derek said softly. "No matter what you decide, you are still scrubbing in. But it would be good if you said yes."

Meredith folded her arms. "Dr Shepherd, what makes you think that I will say yes? You're my boss. I'm an intern. Dating my boss's boss is completely off limits."

"It's not a date."

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe it is a date. But just one. Please?"

Meredith looked at him sceptically. Derek tilted his head and smiled softly at her again. "What's one date going to do?"

Damn that _McDreamy _smile. Meredith glanced away then sighed. "If I say yes will you stop bugging me all the time?"

Derek smiled. "If you don't want it, I won't do it."

"Fine. Ok. I say yes."

Derek smiled and opened the door, whispering into Meredith's ear as he passed her.

"I'll pick you up at eight."

Stupid Meredith. Talk about self-control at an all-time low. But it was Derek. For some reason all the self-control that remained in her runs away and leaves her for dead whenever Derek's in the room. Stupid Derek.

Well, at least she's not the only lusty intern in Seattle Grace, Christina was going worse. Thank god for Christina. Meredith really had to thank her one day.

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**NB: And so next chapter: The First Date. AWWWWW!**

**Yes. Anywho, I guess this was more Derek being dammed determined to get Meredith, and luckily Meredith is Meredith so it didn't have to be that much, just McDreamy giving her the _McDreamy_ look, which I have to say would be bloody hard to say no to so kudos to Meredith for that!**

**But once again, am rambling. Must fix that sometime soon. But yes, PLEASE REVIEW!! Oo! Capitals! They are so much fun. And hopefully persuasive!**


	20. Chapter XX Woa! Double XX's!

**The Scientist – Chapter XX**

"How the hell do you have a date with your boss? _'What did you do today?' – 'Oh, I don't know, just did a frontal lobe lobotomy.' – 'Really? Me too, cause I'm the one that let you scrub in' _"

Christina flicked through a medical journal as she sat on Meredith's bed and watched her look at herself in front of the mirror. "How should I know? I'm not practised in the art of dating my boss. Only having sex with them."

"Well, so am I so I guess we're both in the dark." Meredith stared at herself in the mirror again. She was just wearing jeans and a shirt in the lack of any other idea of what to wear. "Why the hell did I say yes?"

Christina continued to flick through her magazine. "It's the American Dream. Open up and say _'ah'._ "

Meredith glared at Christina. "Shut up, you're not helping here. You're supposed to be my consult."

Christina smiled forcibly then continued to read the magazine. Suddenly outside Izzie walked past as she went to the bathroom and peered in at Meredith.

"Oo! Hot date? Who is it?"

"No one you know." Meredith said quickly. Izzie just smiled and winked at Meredith and went into the bathroom. Christina stared at where Izzie had been.

"Maybe we should…"

"Yeah I think we should." Meredith said quickly as she walked up to the bedroom door and closed it. Turning back to Christina she sighed. "It's just, why did I agree to this? I don't even know what to wear. I don't date. I'm not a dater, that's just me."

Christina put down the journal. "Did he say where you were going?"

"No."

"Then your best bet is to keep it plain. Jeans, nice top, nice jacket. You never know, you might be going to a paintball tournament in which case a sleek dress and high heels would _not_ be appropriate."

Meredith walked up to the bed. "So I go like this?"

"Whatever." Christina shrugged. "It's not like you want to impress him."

"Of course not. I just don't know what kind of date it is. He's a rich brain-surgeon from New York, it's not like he's going to take me on a picnic or something. He's like some sort of serious date person, with flowers and diamonds, going on horse-drawn carriages and renting out Tiffany's. He's like the complete opposite of me. " Meredith mumbled as she looked in the mirror again. "Then again, if I was trying to impress him," Christina looked sceptically at Meredith " – which I'm not – he's only ever seen me in scrubs so anything I wear would be impressive."

"Just wear some makeup." Christina read the journal again.

"What?"

"Makeup. Trust me, you never wear it to work so put it on and it will wow the pants of him."

"I'm not trying to _'wow'_ him." Meredith glared at Christina.

"Whatever you say Meredith."

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It was 8:00. Meredith had placed the far-from-enthusiastic Christina on watch outside her room to give warning to anyone who might stare out the window and see Meredith getting into McDreamy's car.

Walking down the stairs she peered into the kitchen to see George walking out, piece of toast imbedded into his mouth. As he walked up the stairs he stopped as he saw Meredith.

"Himhm" George took the toast out of his mouth. "Hi!" He said again. "Where are you going?"

"Ah, dinner." Meredith said quickly, trying to get out of the conversation as quick as possible.

"Oh." George looked cut. "Ah, um…who with?"

"Just a guy I met at a bar." Meredith tried to say innocently.

George dropped his hand that held his toast. "That's ah…great. Um, don't do anything I wouldn't." George tried to smile.

"Shall do." Meredith said quickly again as she walked down the stairs. "See ya George." She called out after him.

"Bye."

Meredith walked out of the house then stopped and looked into the hallway again. George had gone upstairs. Meredith quickly turned away and walked down the path. Looking down the street she saw the back of a coupe, its brake lights still on. Checking if anyone was looking out of the windows in her house Meredith walked down the street to the obvious rent-a-car and opened the door.

Derek smiled at her as she next to him and put on her seatbelt. "So, where you able to sneak out of the house Dr Grey?"

Meredith glared at him playfully. Derek started the car and pulled out from the gutter. Meredith glanced out the window then over to Derek.

"So, what did you do today?"

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Derek peered into the dark in front of him then over at Meredith who was gazing out of the window in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. A silence Derek hadn't experienced since god knows when. Derek just liked being around her.

He looked back at the road, now boarded by trees. He knew what he had to do tonight. He had to make an impression. Going all-out at a 5-star restaurant and romantic music was one thing, but Derek didn't think that was Meredith. He hoped to god it wasn't Meredith otherwise tonight would do more harm than good but he thought it was ok. She wasn't like Addison, and Derek wanted to show himself to Meredith, show her what he was really like rather then just be her boss.

Which was strange for Derek, very strange. Because besides Addison and Mark, and maybe the Chief, no one really knew what he was like, and when they did know they could not restrain from laughing at him from time to time.

Meredith wouldn't laugh at him. At least, he _hoped _Meredith wouldn't laugh at him. Oh god maybe this was a mistake.

Suddenly the car began to hit gravel road and Meredith looked around the surroundings as the car started to vibrate. "Ah, where are we exactly?"

"Here." Derek smiled as he put on the brakes and stopped the car. Getting out of the car he walked quickly to Meredith's door as she sat in surprise of their destination and opened the door for her. Meredith got out and looked around the car.

"Trees." She said simply.

"Trees." Derek confirmed, smiling.

Meredith smiled mischievously at Derek. "We're not having a picnic are we?"

"Not a picnic _as such_." Derek smiled. "Come on, I'll show you."

Grabbing on to Meredith's hand Derek trembled at bit at her touch the gulped down, leading her though the darkness on a newly formed track.

Coming over a slight hill Derek looked in front of him as the small bushes began to part and a small metal box appeared, the lights on inside. He could feel Meredith slowing down as she saw the trailer for the first time, but Derek kept walking up to hit. After a while he regretfully let go of her hand and stopped walking, tuning back to Meredith as he stood in front of her.

"This, is where I live."

Meredith looked at the trailer in surprise. "In a trailer?"

"Yes."

Please like it, please like it, please like it.

Meredith looked at it in surprise then at Derek who stood waiting in apprehension for her answer. See looked back at the trailer again then suddenly began to form a smile.

"I love it." She answered softly. "It's fantastic. Come on." She walked up to Derek and grabbed his hand, pulling him up to the trailer. "I want to see it."

_This, _is why Derek begged her to go out with him.

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Derek watched Meredith finish the last bit of the cheese and prosciutto. All Derek knew how to cook really was fish, so instead of making a failed attempt of dinner he served anti-pasto dishes. Cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes, breads, prosciutto, the usual. Meredith seemed to like it. In fact, Derek was surprised how much she would pack in to that tiny body of hers, seeing how Derek had already finished eating 20 minutes ago. Not that he cared. Sitting outside on the patio of his new trailer with Meredith was seemingly more than he could ask for. Smiling at her as she licked the rest of the cheese off her fingers, Derek picked up the bottle of red and filled her glass and his.

"Trying to get me drunk Dr Shepherd?" She grinned.

"Maybe." Derek winked as he got up from his seat and stacked the plates, picking them up as he balanced his wine glass in his other hand and made his way to the kitchen with a smile to Meredith.

Putting the plates down near the sink Derek turned the tap on and poured in the washing liquid, waiting for the sink to fill. Watching Meredith get up from her chair outside Derek turned back to the sink and heard the door open. Turning of the tap he glanced at Meredith who had now sat herself up on the counter, legs swinging down happily as she stared at Derek.

Derek moved away from the sink then over to Meredith, moving towards her with his hands clasped behind his back.

"So, Dr Grey. Was that a nice date?" He moved closer to her.

Meredith picked up her hands and started to play with his collar. "I think it was."

"Me too." Derek murmured as he moved in closer again to Meredith, his eyes nearly closed as he felt her hot breath on his. Derek felt Meredith's hands move from his collar up to his neck then around, pulling him gently into a soft kiss. Suddenly Meredith giggled.

"Hehe…your stubble tickles."

Derek pulled back a bit. "Maybe I should shave."

"No. Don't. I like it." She smiled. Derek kissed her again and picked her off the counter, bringing her over to the sink then released her from the kiss, staring in her eyes as he pulled away an inch.

"_After_ I do the dishes." Derek smiled.

"I like a man who knows his place." Meredith joked as she took another sip from her wine then leaned on the counter next to Derek. "So," She said casually. "What makes a hot-shot doctor leave the Big Apple for Seattle." Derek quickly shot up at Meredith, who continued smiling at him. "I can't believe you only came here for a scene change. Come on, what's your dirty laundry?"

Shit. What the hell was he going to say. If he says nothing and somehow she finds out about his wife, she's hate him forever. But if she says yes she'll leave and must probably hate him forever for never telling him. He was going to hurt her no matter what he said, but one way more than the other. If he did tell her she'd think she was a rebound, if he didn't tell her, there was still a chance that she'd never find out and just be happy that way. But who knew what Addison would do. Who knew what the _Chief_ would do if he ever found out. He has to tell her. He can't tell her.

He can't hurt her.

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**NB: EEK!! What's he going to do? Will he tell her? That would be the scandalous thing to do, but the Derek thing to do would be to take the easy way out, and that would be _not _to tell her! It's just all so crazy!**

**But anywho, I have delivered you the longest chapter in this story I think. You should be happy with that. Very happy. And if you're happy you know what you can do? That's right, review!! Slap on your beret and fake moustache, pick up your pencil and moleskin diary, I wanna know what you think!! Gimme gimme gimme critique! Not crazy at all.**


	21. Chapter XXI

**The Scientist – Chapter XXI**

"_Nobody said it was easy,_

_No one ever said, _

_It would be this hard…"_

"My wife slept with my best friend."

Derek saw the look on Meredith's face suddenly turn and heard as she lightly let go of the glass in her hand and let it fall gently on the ground as it burst on the floor with a shatter of red. Still in shock Meredith had not taken her eyes of Derek and now quickly turned around and barged out of the trailer. Derek quickly followed her.

"Meredith!" He called after in vain.

"Wife???" Meredith spat as she trudged out into the dark, head fixed forward. "You had…You have a _wife???_"

"Who I don't love. I left her Meredith, I am so sorry but I had to tell you."

"Didn't think you could tell me earlier? What about when me met? _'Hi, I'm Dr Shepherd and I'm married'_."

"Meredith, please."

"Don't you _please_ me Derek." Meredith continued to walk determined, avoiding Derek's gaze.

"My wife cheated on me with my best friend! I walked in on them in _my _bed!" Derek tried in vain to make her stop.

"So that's all I was, a rebound? Just something to get over your wife screwing you."

"No, that's not it. I left her Meredith, she's nothing to me anymore…"

"Post-marital amnesia!"

Derek stopped walking. "Please Meredith, just listen to me."

"No, you're married, I don't want to be the slutty intern screwing the married attending."

"Where are you going?" Derek asked as he stared after her as she continued to walk into the darkness.

"Home."

"How?" Derek put his hands on his hips and watched her stop suddenly then turn around and quickly walk back to the trailer. Derek tried to stop he with his hand as she passed by but she kept on walking. Sighing, Derek turned around and watched her walked back up to the trailer.

"What are you doing?"

Meredith walked into the trailer; over to the kitchen counter then out again.

"Taking your keys. You'll find your rent-a-car in the parking lot in the morning with the keys in the glove box."

Derek stood torn as he watched Meredith climb into his car. He knew he had to let her go for a while, but all he wanted to do was to hold her, say how much he meant to him now, how much he didn't love his wife anymore.

They say you don't know how much you needed something till it's gone. And watching Meredith drive away in his car, Derek realised how much that was true.

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"Joe! Get me four shots of tequila, all lined up like a nice set of scalpels."

Joe walked over from talking to another customer. "I don't get the metaphor but it looks like you need 'em so I'll get to it."

Derek's married. That little, deceptive, son-of-bitch, bastard. Why the hell couldn't he have told her when they met? Why the hell couldn't he have worn his stupid wedding ring? Then again, his wife cheated on him with his best friend so maybe he shouldn't have worn the ring. But that doesn't dismiss the fact that he had turned Meredith into a home-wrecker. An adulterous whore who sleeps with married men. This was exactly what Meredith had _never_ wanted. She hated the thought of it. She had watched her house be destroyed because of an affair (well, she had always guessed an affair) and there was no way she was going to be the catalyst for another.

Joe placed the glasses out in front of her then filled them all with tequila. Meredith quickly picked up the first glass and threw down the cool, burning liquid down her throat, momentarily taking away her mind away from other pains. Smacking down the glass and taking in a deep breath her thoughts came running back to her.

Time for another.

As she put the second empty glass down she felt a nudge on her side.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a date with McDreamy?"

Meredith looked over to Christina as she sat down beside her, the numbness growing in her head from the first shot.

"More like Mc_Married._"

"What?"

Meredith picked up the third shot. "Derek's married." She threw the drink down and smacked the drink on the counter. "His wife cheated on him and he left her to go to Seattle. He's having post-marital amnesia."

Christina just shook his head. "Dammit Mer, when you've got it bad…"

"I know. I have a shitty life. I'm used to it."

"So what's going to happen with you and McDreamy?"

"It's going to be me and McDreamy no longer, just Meredith and on the other side of the building, Dr Shepherd. We will be colleagues with a cold relationship, I'll make sure of that." Meredith chucked down the last shot. "So how was life with Izzie and George?"

"I only stayed there for half an hour until Izzie threatened to bake." Christina motioned to Joe who nodded and made her a drink, putting it on the counter in front of her. Meredith looked up from her row of empty glasses.

"Another four thanks Joe."

Joe looked hesitantly over at Christina. "Can this girl handle another four?"

"You know what? She just found out her boyfriend's married so I thinks she needs it."

"Eesh!" Joe looked in pain then quickly refilled the empty shot glasses.

"He wasn't my boyfriend." Meredith mumbled coldly as she stared at the glasses.

"Well," Christina slapped her hand onto Meredith's back. "He isn't now."

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**NB: Well, he told her. And she freaked out, as you would if you found out your soon to be boyfriend was married. And if you found out on your first date. I know it was quite a short chapter and I'm sorry but I'm going off to the basketball soon and I don't have the time to write more. But don't you worry, tomorrow there shall be another chapter up: Mer/Der at work!! Muhahaha!!**

**And I swear "Greys-has-become-my-life" you are seriously telepathic (about the song connection, that is). Freaky!!!**


	22. Chapter XXII

**The Scientist – Chapter XXIII**

Meredith sat alone in at the table; her untouched lunch in front of her as she sat still, put her fist to her mouth and redirected her sickness to a broken burp. She really shouldn't have drunk those extra shots. Why the hell did she drown herself with the bottle? The relationship/whatever was over even before the end of the first date. There were no massive injuries, no hurts or pains afflicted. She had not had a relationship with Derek so why did it matter?

Why the hell did she have to have those extra shots?

Slowly she moved her hand to her coat pocket and pulled out some cold and flu tablets she had got from the pharmacy guy, popped open the top and shook two onto her tray. Glancing up she saw Izzie, George and Christina walking towards her table, lunch in hand.

"You got a cold?" George noticed the bottle as he sat down at the table.

"Meredith has a hangover, don't you Meredith?" Christina smiled as she put on a high-pitched voice. Meredith cringed in pained then gulped down the two pills with her drink. "Shut up." She grumbled. "I'm not the one with the flu. You should be taking these." Meredith threw the pills to Christina.

"So I take it that was one wild date!" Izzie smiled.

"The date was married." Christina interjected quickly. Meredith felt to shit to call her off.

"Seriously??" Izzie looked shocked. "Oh my god Meredith, he didn't tell you? What a jerk!"

"That's what I thought." Meredith replied lamely.

"That ass, he doesn't deserve to take you on a date." George began to brood in anger.

"Don't worry, I won't be going on a dates with him anytime soon." Meredith smiled wryly as she leant back in her chair.

"I would give you my surgery with Shepherd to cheer you up, but I kind of can't." George tried to comfort Meredith.

"Oh no, I don't want it." She replied bluntly.

"What is it?" Christina looked curious.

"Oh, just a hemispherectomy." George leant back in his seat, resting his head on his hands in content.

"_WHAT??_" Izzie and Christina exclaimed in unison.

George beamed and opened up his tuna sandwich, taking a bite in victory. "We're going to cut out half a kid's brain and she's going to live, how cool is that?"

Cristina simply glared at his sandwich and put her hand to her nose. "For god's sake Bambi, who the hell eats a tuna sandwich? It smells rank, get it away from me."

George kept eating. "Well, I need to eat before my _hemispherectomy_ so I'll have what I want. If you don't like it, you can leave."

Christina stared him down. "I'm sick and bloated, you want to threaten me Bambi?"

George chewed the last of his bite then looked at Christina as he held the sandwich in his hand. Quickly he sat up nervously and put the sandwich back in its triangular plastic packing and closed it.

Meredith just sat back in her chair, unable to eat anything and waiting for the affects of the pills to take hold.

God, she really didn't need to feel anymore shit than she was now.

Suddenly her hip started to vibrate. Picking up her pager she looked at the screen.

_911._

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Meredith punched open the fire-stair doors and ran down the hall, looking round for the nurses with the crash cart. As she came to Claire Rice's room she quickly opened the door and looked it. No one was there. The room was empty.

Surprised, Meredith peered over her shoulder to one of the bases where a nurse was sitting behind the counter, flicking through some files. Walking over to the counter she gazed up and down the hall for signs of a code blue.

"Ah," Meredith peered over to the nurse. "Claire Rice?"

The nurse kept flicking through the files and didn't look up. "She's not there."

"I noticed. I'm Dr Grey, I got paged 911?"

The nurse looked up at her. "Room 2143." She nodded her head over to the room across the hall.

"Thanks." Meredith mumbled as she headed over to the room. Damn overworked nurses, why the hell was she paged 911?

Coming to room 2143 she opened the door and walked in, letting it close behind her. She looked up. The room was again empty except for Derek, sitting on a chair next to the bed.

Meredith had to get out. Quickly she swerved back round and grabbed the handle of the door.

"Meredith!" She could hear Derek stand up. She hesitated for a second. "Meredith, please, we need to talk."

She turned back around. "You made the nurse page me 911 for a _talk?_ You dated me without telling me about your wife, you've lost the right to talk to me."

"It was the only way for me to get you in the same room as me. Please, just let me explain myself." Derek stood alone in the middle of the room, hanging for Meredith's answer.

"You don't have to explain yourself. You're wife slept with your best friend. I'm sorry. _You _didn't tell me. _That's_ the thing I have a problem with."

"Please…just…"

Meredith looked back to the door than sighed. Turning around she walked into the middle of the room then sat down on one of the chairs. Derek watched her sit down patiently then turned around and started to pace slowly.

"I…just before I came to Seattle, I went home early after work. I ah, the house was quiet, normal. I went upstairs and I found my friend's jacket. Mark's jacket. Then I opened the door to find him in bed with my wife. I was married to her for 11 years. I had known Mark since I was ten. All I could do was just walk away. I had to get away from it all. So I came here. And I found you."

"And me being a rebound, a way to get over your wife." Meredith crossed her arms.

"No, no I am over her. I've been over her now for two years, I just didn't know it. But you, you're not like that. You're not that person. I didn't want to be in a relationship or something but now I do. Please believe me Meredith. I had to tell you. I had to tell you so I didn't hurt you."

"Then why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because if I told you before I'd be the married boss, and you would definitely not have crossed the line." Derek gave a weak smile.

Meredith sat in silence, her arms still crossed as she glanced out of the blind-covered window.

"What's her name?" She murmured lowly.

"Addison."

"Her full name."

Derek stopped for a second then put his hands in his pockets, sighing softly. "Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd."

"What does she do?"

"She's ah, Neo-Natal surgeon at Manhattan Private."

"What does she look like?"

Derek sighed and sat down on another chair. "Red hair, tall. Very elegant."

"And you met…"

"As interns."

Meredith looked back at Derek, who was now bent forward on the chair, hunched over as he clasped his hands together. "How did you propose?"

"At this restaurant. On ah, 57th St. We got married 4 months later. Mark was the best man."

"How long did you know her before you proposed?"

"Less than a year."

Meredith sat in silence for a while then stood up, making her way to the door. As she put her hand on the handle she stopped and turned around to Derek who was still hunched forward in the chair.

"I forgive you. You should have told me but you didn't I can understand that." Derek looked up at her slowly, Meredith remained still. "But there won't be a second date."

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**NB: And so Meredith stood her ground. Again. That chapter was about her coming to grips with the fact that Derek had a wife, and also to put a person to the name. Because she hasn't seen Addison before, and she wants to know whom the _real _person was, not just "the cheating wife". She also hoped it would help Derek realise that he is still trying to get over Addison, but we all know Derek. **

**But from this chapter you've also leant a handy hangover cure: Cold and Flu tablets! But only the ones like codral, that contain codine. See, my story isn't just entertaining, but also educational!**

**Who would believe!! So REVIEW!!! Please??**


	23. Chapter XXIII

**The Scientist – Chapter XXIII**

It was the day after Meredith had talked to Derek. She was standing next to Christina as they waited for the elevator. Christina was standing straight in silence, trying not to make any moves for some reason Meredith couldn't figure out.

There was a ding and the elevator doors opened.

Suddenly Meredith's stomach turned into a knot.

Freaking elevators.

Walking in with Christina, Meredith placed herself on the other side of the elevator so Christina would instinctually move in between her and Derek, who was now leaning on the other side of the elevator. Christina seemed to bothered with her own thoughts to realise the tension in the air and the quick looks both Derek and Meredith gave to each other, each looking away quickly as the other turned their head.

Suddenly Christina made a grunt-like noise and pressed the level button quickly. The elevator stopped and opened at the next level.

"I need a bathroom." Christina mumbled as she held her stomach and ran out of the elevator.

The doors closed in a shocked silence as both Derek and Meredith stared at the elevator doors in confusion. Meredith felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she felt Derek looking at her.

"So what are we going to do?" Meredith looked over to the smiling Derek.

"What do you mean?" She asked bluntly.

Derek pushed himself up from leaning on the wall and over to Meredith. "I mean, you said no more dating. So what do we do now? We can be friends."

"We can't be friends."

"What do you mean?"

"People don't become friends with married attendings. In fact, you can't be friends with attendings in the first place."

"But we can be friends." Derek smiled softly at Meredith.

"Our first date was wrecked by the fact that you had a wife. We had sex in the on-call room. We can't be friends."

"Then what are we?"

"I don't know, people who see each other at work, say hello, ask about the weather and other mundane things…"

"A friendly attending." Derek crossed his arms.

"Exactly." Meredith tried to smile at him then failed as she looked at the serious expression on his face.

Derek turned around and ran his hand through his hair, sighing. "Fine. Fine, I'll be the _friendly attending_ if you want."

Meredith stood in silence, unable to answer. Derek swerved around and looked at her curiously. "That is what you want, right?"

She has to say it.

"Yes." Meredith put on a forced smile once more, as there was another ding and the elevator doors opened. Quickly she looked away from Derek and walked out of the elevator.

She can do it. He can be the friendly attending. She slept with guys and been impartial to them before, what's so different about this one?

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The friendly attending. She wanted Derek to be the friendly attending. He could do that. He owed her.

Derek ran the roller up the patient's leg as he tried to subside the flood of thoughts from the conversation he had with Meredith just before.

"Ok Mr Walker, does that hurt?" He walked up to the patient lying in the pit with a neck brace.

"I can't feel anything till you get to my thigh."

"Try wiggling your toes." Derek looked down the bed to the patient's feet. Nothing.

"Are they moving?" Mr Walker asked nervously, staring up at the roof.

"No."

"Damn. I could about ten minutes ago."

Derek walked up to the computer and switched on the scans. "Well your spine X-Rays look clear. You fell rock climbing?"

"It was just a small drop, I was belayed. My wife and boys are on the way. What's wrong with me anyway?"

Derek walked over to his legs and held them up off the bed. "Hold your legs up." They remained limp.

"Should I be scared now?"

"No, just try and relax."

Derek should get Meredith to help him. He needed an intern and he wanted Meredith. He could show her he could be a friendly attending. No, he can't do that. It was too soon. He doesn't even _know_ how to be a friendly attending. How could he know what the right thing to do around Meredith? The right thing for him would be to flirt with her like crazy and ask her out again, but he didn't think that was what Meredith was getting at. He needed to practice.

"Nurse, I need a stat MRI. Take an intern with him. Make it Isobel Stevens."

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"I can't believe it was there."

Derek looked up at Stevens as he was scrubbing his hand thoroughly after the surgery. Stevens' hands where still under the rushing water.

"I mean, it wasn't on the CT's or X-Ray, it was just there. How did you know?"

"Just a guess." Derek smiled moderately.

"One lucky guess." Stevens raised her eyebrows.

Derek turned off the tap and pulled out a paper towel, drying his hands on them. Derek had to test Stevens. He had to know where the boundary was. He had to know what a _friendly attending _was.

"So," Derek chucked the towel in the bin. "How are you liking the program. You surviving life as an intern?"

"Barely." Stevens laughed. "But it's good. It's hard. It's like the interns are over here and the residents and the attendings are over there, but I guess its like that all the time."

"Yeah." Derek nodded to himself slowly and gave a meek smile at Stevens. "You did great work Stevens."

"Thank you Dr Shepherd."

"Ah, look after him post-op, ok?" Derek sat up from leaning on the basin.

"Yes, thank you."

Derek put his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway, sighing as he ran his fingers through his black hair.

He can't do this.

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**NB: Ok, that chapter was more Derek trying to figure out how to be the _friendly attending_, and seeing what it would be like with Meredith if he did that. And so he realised he can't do it.**

**So what does it all mean? Well, I sure can't tell you otherwise there'd be no point in reading the rest of this story. And it would suck if people stopped reading this story, because I'd just be left in a ditch, pondering the last minute of Grey's. Going to listen to Snow Patrol again. **

**So review and I won't be forced to write a post-"Walk On Water" fic to quench my apprehension and excitement. **


	24. Chapter XXIV

**The Scientist – Chapter XXIV**

Meredith lay on the bed and placed her hands underneath her head as she stared out at the window as the pouring rain distorted the dark night outside.

"What are you doing on my bed?"

Meredith glanced over to the door where George was standing, bag in hand, staring at Izzie and Meredith who were both laying comfortably on his bed.

"Lying down." Izzie said a-matter-of-factly. "You got a problem with that?"

"Yes." George replied bluntly. "It's my bed."

"Oh, quiet George." Meredith rolled her eyes. The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance again. George looked at the two women on his bed then threw his bag down and jumped on the bed, lying in between them.

Placing his head on his hands George looked at the roof with the other two. "So what are we doing?"

"Listening to the rain." Izzie smiled sleepily.

There was a silence between them all, only broken by the intermittent claps of thunder and the sound of the rain hitting the glass. Suddenly the melodic note of the doorbell rang.

"Bags not getting it." Meredith exclaimed quickly.

"Me too." George added hastily.

"Fine." Izzie sighed, rolling off the bed at stumbling through the door. "You better not be doing anything when I come back."

George and Meredith lay in silence again, looking blankly at the room, the image of Bob Dylan staring down at them.

"So how was the psychic?" George looked over to Meredith.

"Oh, just your average, run-of-the-mill believer. What did you have?"

"An intubation." He replied simply.

"Fun."

"Ha. Yeah."

Suddenly the comfortably silence was broken by the footsteps of Izzie coming to the room. Meredith glanced up at her as she stood in the bedroom doorway and looked at her strangely.

"Ah, Meredith, _Dr Shepherd_ is here to see you."

What?

Meredith quickly propped herself up on the bed. "What?"

Izzie just looked confused. "He's ah, outside. Wet."

Meredith quickly hopped off the bed and rushed passed Izzie as she and George stared at Meredith strangely.

Coming down the stairs Meredith looked quickly out though the window on the front door, peering around for Derek.

Why was he here?

Walking hesitantly to the door Meredith slowly put her hand on the handle and opened the door. Peering over to the side she saw Derek standing still and the patio, hands stuffed in his pockets as his hair was matted unto his face with rain, the drips still falling off the strands.

"You're wet." Meredith blurted out.

"Yeah." Derek murmured as he smiled uncontrollably.

"Ah…" Meredith stepped away from the door and held her arms crossed from the cold. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't do it." Derek said simply as he continued to smile.

"What?"

"I can't, I can't be a _friendly attending._ Not with you." Derek began to beam uncontrollably. "And to be honest, I don't want to do it. You and me, I can't ignore it, I can't pretend it's something it's not because I just don't want to." Meredith felt her stomach tighten up as Derek stopped for a moment and stared at her. "I don't want to be an acquaintance, I will never be your friend." Derek started to grin. "All I want to be is your boyfriend. Your stupid, arrogant, married attending boyfriend." Derek looked at the stunned face of Meredith then nodded and glanced over his shoulder to the rain. "So sorry about that, but I'm not your friend."

Derek beamed softly at Meredith, nodded his head then turned around and walked out down the garden path, into the pouring rain.

Meredith could not move. Eyes still wide open Meredith turned slowly around and grabbed onto the door in surprise.

Holy shit. Holy shit shit shit.

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**NB: Sorry, it might be hell small but I just needed to write that chapter, I just needed to get it out. And so Derek can't be her friend. Well, to be honest, I wouldn't want to be Derek's friend when it comes to that. But now Izzie and George know, because they didn't find out before. **

**What I'd like to point out is that this chapter is set at the end of "Save Me", that is, around the time Derek showed Meredith his trailer. So we all know what that means… tee hee hee!!**

**Ok, shall not giggle. To stop me from giggling (like Betsy Beers – why did she giggle? WHY??) please review. I would do the same for you. I would! I have a specific, always review policy. Hmmm, _"review policy"…_ sounds professional. **

**Going to listen to "Make This Go On Forever" – again. **


	25. Chapter XXV

**The Scientist – Chapter XXV**

"You slept with Dr Shepherd??"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Seriously??"

Meredith propped up her head slightly to glare at Izzie as she stood in George's bedroom in shock as Meredith lay on his bed, arms behind her as she rested her head in her hands and stared at the roof in thought.

Derek confessed his undying love for her. Ok, maybe he didn't, but he was wet. And he's married. Married, Meredith, _married_.

"You slept with our attending??" George paced frantically from one side of the room to the other. Izzie just stood still at glared frustrated at Meredith.

"How could you not tell us Mer?? We live with you! We're your best friends!"

"He's married! Married! –" George began to talk to himself. Izzie ignored him.

"But _why, _Meredith? Why did you do it? How could you do this to us –"

" – he didn't even tell you he was married – "

" – what, you sleep with him so you could scrub in on some few cool surgeries? How could you cheat like that Meredith? How could you do that to your own friends?"

Meredith groaned and rolled her eyes, quickly propping herself up from the bed.

"Shut up!" The others quickly stopped talking and looked at Meredith. "Ok, one: I didn't _know_ he was married when I slept with him. And I only slept with him once. Never again. And two: George, you scrubbed in on his hemispherectomy, Izzie, you got his crazy invisible tumour! He doesn't favour me at all!"

George and Izzie stood in silence for a second after begin shouted at by Meredith. Suddenly Izzie started to fidget.

"But he's _Dr Shepherd!!_" She blurted out uncontrollably. Meredith quickly sighed in frustration and dropped her head back onto the pillow.

Izzie looked around the room in disbelief then sighed as she looked back at Meredith as she lay on the bed. Dropping her head down Izzie walked up to the chair and sat down. George looked over at Izzie then sat down at the foot of his bed.

"So," Izzie ventured after a bit of silence. "Do you like him?"

"He's married." Meredith mumbled bitterly. Why the hell did Derek have to say those things? She had it all worked out and then he just had to come along with his hair and his smile at wreck everything down with a huge freaking wrecking ball.

"He's a jerk." George murmured.

"Yeah." Izzie nodded.

Meredith just stared at the roof in silence.

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Derek tapped his fingers on his briefcase as he waited for the elevator. It was 7:05 and he was going home. He'd hoped that he's bump into Meredith again today, but knowing her she would have been trying relentlessly the avoid him the whole day. _But she can't avoid me forever_, Derek smiled to himself. He knew he shouldn't have given Meredith all the weight of responsibility, to make _her_ choose, but he had to say what he said, he had to tell her how he felt.

How did he feel?

Suddenly a lump grew in his throat and his stomach tightened up. There was a reason why he tried so hard to get her, why she had clouded his thoughts over 2 months, but it couldn't be _that_. It can't be.

Ding.

Derek looked up as the doors of the elevator opened in front of him.

He knew he was right to take the elevator.

Smiling uncontrollably at Meredith, Derek walked into the elevator and pressed the button, returning to his place next to Meredith.

Derek looked over at Meredith. "So…"

"Shutup." Meredith said quickly. "There is no chance you're saying anything. Not after last night."

"What was wrong with what I said?" Derek smiled slyly at Meredith.

"You're married!" Meredith exclaimed wildly. "Which I think is one hell of a huge 'WRONG' – it's the freaking definition of 'WRONG' – just huge freaking slab of 'WRONG'!!"

Derek bit his lip as he tried to hold back his laughter at the amazing cuteness of Meredith. He couldn't handle being in such a confined space with her, all his effort was put into stopping himself from pinning her to the wall of the elevator then and there.

"She cheated on me." Derek tried to defend. "I left her. I no longer had any feelings for her. She's in New York, I'm in Seattle. We're practically divorced."

"_Practically_ being the operative word."

"Look," Derek moved closer to Meredith as he sensed her body tightening up. "I know I shouldn't have said that last night but I can't cover up the truth."

"What, that we can't be friends?" Meredith looked up at him sceptically as he moved closer again.

"Yes."

"Well I agree, we're not friends. I hate you." Meredith pouted at him.

That's it.

Suddenly Derek seized up and quickly shot his head forward as kissed Meredith passionately. Wrapping his arms around her he felt her body try to resist then slowly give in.

The elevator stopped.

Ding.

Quickly Meredith pushed Derek away from her as they wiped their mouths and fixed up their hair and scrubs and looked up at the doors of the elevator as they opened.

Shit.

"Hello Derek."

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**NB: lol, so I'll give you three guesses who it is. And I tell you, it's hell easy. Anywho, I thought I needed to write another chapter for this fic after all the dark and twisty brilliance of "Drowning on Dry Land" (Meredith can't die!!! She's my bloody favourite character!! She's the _main _character for god's sake!!). But yes, someone has arrived, will the consequences be different? I hope so, otherwise you'd have one hell of a hell-boring fic to read. But yes, finally had the elevator kiss too. But please review!! Yes! I know you want to! Sitting there, procrastinating like all hell and trying to forget that you have a thousand other things to do than be reading fan fiction. Well, here's another thing for you to do: review!! Tee hee!**

**Hmmm, going to listen to "A Bitter Song" by butterfly boucher. Dammit that was a great ep. (Denny and Bomb Squad Guy!!)**


	26. Chapter XXVI

**The Scientist – XXVI**

"Hello Derek."

Meredith looked up at the tall woman who had so suddenly interrupted her and Derek's stupid, stupid, kiss. It looked like she just walked out a Gucci or _'Rich Temptress Today' _catalogue. Her shoes were so obviously Prada and her black dress complete with gloves did nothing to soften the sharp look on her face. And she had red hair. Oh holy shit she had red hair.

"Addison what are you doing here?" Meredith heard the cold words of Derek as Meredith continued to look at Addison in shock. She knew she shouldn't have kissed Derek. Why the hell did she kiss him? How could she be so stupid??

Addison raised a single, perfectly plucked eyebrow at Derek. "What's the matter Derek? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"No." He replied coldly, as he stared her down.

Addison looked a bit annoyed then gazed at her surroundings as she remained at the entry of the elevator, the doors not attempting to close on her for some strange divine reason. She looked over to Meredith who continued to stand upright in shock.

"Who's this?" She glanced her over dismissively.

"Meredith Grey." The words grinded out of Derek's mouth.

"_Meredith_ Grey?" Addison raised her eyebrows at Derek then looked back at Meredith. "I'm sorry Dr Grey but could I borrow my husband for a second?"

Meredith could feel Derek quickly shooting her a look but Meredith remained firmly still, looking up at Addison and forcing a smile. "Sure." She said weakly while trying to be cheerful.

As quickly as humanly possible Meredith walked past Addison and out of the elevator. "Meredith!" She heard Derek call her name as she walked away but luckily the doors of the elevator closed in time for her not to have to look around.

And so the day was going perfect for Meredith. Derek didn't want to be her friend. He wanted to be her _boyfriend_. And then he had to freaking do that whole McDreamy thing in the elevator, which Meredith told herself over and over again _never_ to give into. Especially due to the fact that he's freaking _married!_

Meredith could not be _that person_ who breaks up a family. She didn't want to be the catalyst for the same thing that happened to her. Yet there she was, making out with Derek moments before his freaking _wife_ appeared at the elevator. No doubt to announce she's suddenly working at Seattle Grace.

Yes, life did suck for Meredith Grey.

Checking her watch she looked up at the surgical board for a name. She needed to find Christina.

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"Addison what are you doing here?" Derek asked again as he turned away from the elevator doors as they closed on Meredith.

Addison smiled slyly. "Your hair's different."

"A lot of things are different."

"It's longer, I like it." Addison reached out to Derek's hair as he pulled backwards. "It's very Russel Crowe."

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked again, his stomach feeling sick as the thought of Meredith crept up in the back of his mind.

"What are you doing here, you just pack up and leave everything?" Addison countered quickly. "Your house, your practice, your friends? You had a life in Manhattan."

"_Had_."

He had to find Meredith. He had to find her now.

"And now you're a fisherman in Seattle." Addison smiled to herself.

Derek pressed the level button again and folded his arms. "If you came here to win me back you can forget about it."

"I did! I flew all the way across the country to reminisce over wedding photos, get dunk, fall into bed and realise you can't live without me." He needed to talk to Meredith. "Relax, Derek, I'm here for work, I'm helping the TTTS case you guys admitted last week. At Richard's briefing – "

"Richard knew you were coming out here?" Derek quickly shot at Addison as the elevator slowed down to a stop.

"He asked me to come, didn't he tell you?"

"No he didn't."

"Hmmm…" The elevator doors opened and Addison slowly walked past Derek, out of the elevator then turned back. "The hair though, you know I've always had a thing for Russel Crowe." Giving Derek a sly smile Addison walked down the hall and the elevator doors closed once more, leaving Derek alone.

He needed to find Meredith; he needed to talk to her.

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**NB: Enter Addison. Haha! Yes, sorry that was largely all from the original ep but seriously, who can change it? Who _wants_ to change it? Well, I did, but still, Meredith and Derek's lack of one-night-stand would not alter what she said to Derek much thus it is not altered much. Understand my logic here? I hope so; otherwise I really need to check my logic.**

**It just isn't logical!!**

**You know what is logical? Reviews. That's right, they just make so much sense. But then again I'm just saying that to make you review. Dammit! Why did I have to say that just then! Giving away all my coercive secrets! But then again, my skills of coercion are very doubtable. **


	27. Chapter XXVII

**DISCLAIMER: I own Grey's Anatomy. It's mine. All mine. It keeps me company on long cold nights when I need a friend. **

**Ya, I have a thing against disclaimers. **

**-**

**The Scientist – Chapter XXVII**

"All hail the chief!"

Meredith fiddled with the empty glass of tequila as the crowd in the bar erupted in cheer.

"So my guy Alex finally got what was coming for him?" She heard the booming voice of Joe again behind her.

"George knocked him down in one punch, you should have seen it." Meredith looked up to see Christina chucking her coat down to the seat next to her as George angrily sat down at the bar.

"I don't want to talk about it!" George snapped at Christina.

"Brag champ, brag!"

Meredith looked down at her empty glass again. "So let's play a game of who's life sucks the most." Meredith said dryly as she looked up at Christina.

"You don't want to play me on that." Christina murmured.

"Oh I think I do. I'll even go first. I made out with McDreamy in the elevator only to have us interrupted by his wife."

George smacked down his beer on the counter. "What?"

Christina looked unfazed and continued to sip her drink. "You don't win."

Meredith looked at her curiously. "Did you hear what I said? I just got busted kissing Derek by his own _wife_ for Christ's sake! She's married to him and I freaking kissed him in the elevator. I'm an adulterer. I'm just a dirty mistress."

"You still don't win." Christina grumbled.

"Oh really?" Meredith looked at her sceptically. "What have you got?"

Christina quickly shot a glance over at George who was still listening in intently to her and Meredith. "I got it worse than getting caught making out with McDreamy by _McWife._"

Meredith stared curiously at her then put her glass down on the counter. "You didn't tell me what it is. You don't classify. I win." She smirked wryly.

Suddenly there was a huge crash behind them. Swerving around on their stools they saw Joe on the floor, looking bemused.

"Ok, maybe Joe wins."

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Derek flicked through Joe's file. Trust a medical emergency to come along right when he didn't need it. What he needed was to talk to Meredith, and to make sure she didn't freak out any more than she already would. But then again, the case was interesting…

Looking up he saw the three interns waiting at the ICU base. And Meredith.

"Do you think he's going to need an operation?" Christina's voice rose as he walked towards them.

"Operation? Yes, Ok? Hard to tell. Vasler artery's blown up like a balloon, subarachnoid haemorrhage, aneurism the size of a golf ball…"

"No way you could clip something that big." George mumbled in disbelief.

"Not without magic fingers." Christina scoffed.

"Or a standstill operation." Derek lit up.

"You're doing a standstill operation?" Christina exclaimed in disbelief. "He's doing a standstill operation."

"I'd like to try, but first I'd need some additional patient history, overnight labs and a cerebral angio." Derek held out the patient's file to Meredith as she glared at him.

"I'm off duty." She said simply.

"Dr Grey, this is a standstill operation." Derek tried to convince her, the file still held out towards her.

Meredith looked down at the file then up at Derek again. "There's no chance I'm scrubbing into your surgeries for a while now, Dr Shepherd."

Tapping the counter with her hand Meredith turned around and headed down the hall. Quickly Derek dropped the file on the counter with the other interns and followed Meredith down the corridor. Quickly he caught up with her as she walked away, grabbing her by the arm then pulling her into the on call room, quickly shutting the door behind him as he placed himself between it and Meredith, preventing her from escaping.

Meredith glared at Derek as she stood in the middle of the room.

"Dr Shepherd – "

"Meredith I am so sorry." Derek quickly interrupted. "I had no idea she was coming out to Seattle. I just…I don't want this to suddenly ruin – "

"_Suddenly ruin?_" Meredith looked at Derek in disbelief. "She's your freaking wife! There shouldn't be anything _to_ ruin!"

"Meredith, please – "

"Your wife is hear, whatever happened that shouldn't have happened is over."

"Please, just – "

"What?" Meredith crossed her arms.

"What?" Derek looked confused for a second as she stopped shouting at him.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked calmly.

"I want…I want you. More than anything. More than…I don't know…I just can't…I can't place you into a position where you'd feel like the mistress. Because you are anything _but_ the mistress. So I just… I'm sorry Meredith."

Derek looked up at Meredith and smiled softly at her. Meredith continued to glare at him with her arms crossed but sighed and shook her head slowly.

"Derek, you're married." She said calmly, trying to get the message across. "None of whatever this is can happen. You have to face that."

Derek shifted his weight a bit and swallowed down, trying to stand firm in front of Meredith when he could feel the sting of doubt at the back of his mind. What if it _was_ over with Meredith? He tried to say something but the words chocked in his mouth. Meredith looked up at Derek sadly then slowly walked around him and opened the door, walking out of the room and leaving Derek alone.

What if it _was_ over?

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**NB: Ok, I'm kind of feeling spaced out after watching that last Grey's ep. Man it was good. Was so tempted to write a monologue for Derek expressing his undying and all consuming love for Meredith, then I remembered that this is still season 1, and I don't think we're up to that yet.**

**Anywho, Mer's a dirty mistress and Derek feels like shit. What does it all mean? You'll have to read the next chapters to find out! As you usually do I guess. But am rambling: please review! I'm all spaced out from the Grey's episode that I can't think of a witty comment to make you review so instead: a review from one or/and more people/peoples would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou for your time. **


	28. Chapter XXVIII

**The Scientist – Chapter XXVIII**

Derek sat down on the chair in the hallway of the hospital, fist to his mouth as he struggled in thought.

Again. Not again.

Quickly Derek pulled himself out of the chair and walked aimlessly down the hall, enveloped in his own thoughts as he just finished talking, no…_fighting_, with Meredith.

I just had to happen again. The moment he had thought that it was all ok, that he and Meredith had no more obstacles, something happens. Once again he was left to torture himself over the words of Meredith. Once again the thing that hurt Derek most about Meredith's words was that they were _true_.

He was married. This can't happen. He can't enforce her to be the dirty mistress. I just can't work anymore.

Derek suddenly felt a pain in his stomach as he suddenly felt a rush of sickness inside of him, the putrid taste at the back of his mouth rising up.

_It can't work anymore._

"Derek."

Suddenly his sickness was replaced by anger as he looked up to see Addison standing in the hall in front of him.

"Addison, what the hell do you think you're doing here?" Derek spat at coldly as he stared straight at Addison.

"Oh I'm sorry Derek, didn't know you _marked _your territory. Just stop Derek, I'm here for work, ok?"

Derek couldn't do this.

"Fine." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Fine."

"Derek," Addison tried apprehensively. "Look, we need to talk, about… everything."

"Addison – "

"I mean it Derek – "

"Addison?"

"What?"

"I want a divorce."

Derek watched Addison's face suddenly sink as the words slipped out of his mouth. He didn't want them to, he didn't intend them to, but they just came out. The was a tiny moment of awkward silence between them as Addison tried to comprehend what Derek said when suddenly…

"Dr Grey." Derek blurted out in surprise as he saw her dirty blonde hair appear over Addison's shoulder.

"Dr Shepherd." She said dryly. "Dr Shepherd." She nodded to Addison. Addison continued to stare blankly at Derek then suddenly shook herself out of it and turned to Meredith.

"Ah…Dr Grey." She tried to say normally. "I have a ah, TTTS case, you interested in helping out?"

"Sure." Meredith smiled forcibly.

"Good." Addison tried to smile. "I'll ah…this way Dr Grey."

Addison turned her back to Derek and directed Meredith down the hall, walking away from Derek.

_He has to make this work._

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Meredith plodded behind Addison as they walked down the hall. She was curious about Addison. She seemed to be everything Meredith thought she would be, minus the salmon coloured scrubs. She was tall, beautiful and elegant. Like one of those film stars of the 50's who just flicked their hair and suddenly 100 men would bow down before her. And Derek's married to her. This amazing woman who just radiated elegance was Derek's wife.

Like she ever had a chance to begin with.

But for some reason Addison didn't look as _goddess-like_ as before. As she walked she nervously scratched her neck then quickly fiddled with her earring.

"You ok?" The words suddenly came out of Meredith's mouth.

"Hmm?" Addison looked around at her absentmindeldly. "Oh, yeah. Fine. Just fine, thanks." She nodded slightly to herself as she came to the room of the patient.

"I ah," Addison stopped at the door and looked over at Meredith again. "I chose you as an intern just cause I just wanted to apoligise for the um, elevator situation."

Meredith raised her eyebrows in surprise. There was no way she would have said that if she knew what the hell was happening before the doors opened.

"There's um…" Addison continued. "It just must have been an awkward situation for you so I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine." Meredith tried to choke out.

"Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded kindly with a forced smile. "I really didn't notice anything.

"Are you friends with Derek?" Addison asked innocently.

Meredith suddenly felt her stomach turn. "I would say _friends_ as such, but he's um…he's a friendly attending.

"It's just that he called you by your first name."

Shit.

"Oh, you know. Just ah, no, we are kind of friends I guess." Meredith tried to smile.

Addison nodded slightly then opened the door of the room and walked in. Meredith stopped for a second.

What the hell would happen if she found out about her and Derek?

Crap.

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**NB: So Addison's being friendly to Meredith, as she should be, because she doesn't know about them. And let's face it, we all know Meredith and Addison could be good friends if it wasn't for Derek. Just look at "What I Am". God I love that episode. **

**But Derek wants a divorce. But will he get one or will he realise it's a mistake??**

**To make me stop posing very boring rhetorical questions: review!!**


	29. Chapter XXIX

**The Scientist – Chapter XXIX**

Derek walked out of the scrub and chucked the paper towel in the bin. It was a successful standstill operation. They had killed Joe and brought him back to life. Derek had clipped his enormous aneurism. And yet, walking out of the scrub room he could not hold back the rush of dread over his body. Addison had come back. Meredith ended it. He had asked for a divorce.

"Derek."

He heard a voice call out behind him. Derek walked faster down the hall.

"Derek stop, we need to talk."

Seeing the truth in the words Derek slowed down and sighed, glanced over at the on call room and walked in. Addison followed in and closed the door.

"You asked for a divorce."

Derek didn't answer.

"What, did something suddenly happen to make you ask for a divorce?"

"How bout adultery?"

"Derek – "

"No, how bout you sleeping with my best friend? That seem like a good enough reason?"

"Derek you just walked away after that. You didn't say anything about a divorce, you walked away. And now you want one. Why?"

Derek stopped for a second and ran his hand through his hair. "I just needed some time to think. And now I have. I want a divorce."

"Because of one mistake."

"It was more than that, you know it."

"Have you met someone?"

Derek suddenly stopped as the words shot out of Addison's mouth as she stood in front of him, looking at him curiously.

"No." The words jutted out of Derek's mouth after a moment of silence. "Why would you think – "

"It's just that I can't think of any other reason why you'd suddenly want a divorce other than you met someone."

Derek paused for a second in silence. "What if I have met someone?" He asked cautiously.

"That would mean you were basing your actions on a passing fling – "

"It is _not_ a 'passing fling' – "

"Ah!" Addison raised her eyebrows in victory. "So it is a girl." She said in satisfaction. "Derek, may I remind you that we've been married for 11 years?"

"And yet you still slept with my best friend."

"That was a mistake Derek, and you know it. Eleven years Derek. _Eleven_. You can't just throw that aside because of some Seattle Fisherman's daughter you picked up."

Derek glared at Addison at the unintentional jibe at Meredith then quickly tore his gaze from her. Looking over at the bunk beds that took up most of the room Derek sighed. "Addison," He said seriously as he turned back to her. "Were you happy for the last two years?"

"You know I wasn't happy Derek, that's why I – "

Derek stopped her softly as he raised his hand. "We weren't happy Addison. Were just…nothing. And it wasn't just because of work, you know that. We couldn't have made it work. This is more than Mark and you know it. I want a divorce."

Addison studied Derek in silence then put her hands on her hips. "So this is it?"

"Yes."

"I came all the way out to Seattle for nothing."

"You told me you had a surgical case." Derek looked at her curiously.

"I did, but I didn't have to take it, did I?"

Derek smiled lightly as Addison sighed then looked around the room, turning round to the door. "You'll hear from our lawyer."

"Addison." Derek quickly called out as she put her hand on the door handle. She turned her head back.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Derek said sincerely.

Addison looked sadly at Derek's eyes. "So am I." Turning back around Addison opened the door and walked out.

Derek was free.

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Izzie flicked through her new cookbook she bought that day. She had just officially broken up with her boyfriend, the "_hockey player_" as Christina had so aptly named him. She was supposed to be depressed and heartbroken, she was supposed to be baking. But for some reason, she was quite content to be sitting down at the counter of the kitchen, drinking coffee, flicking through the cooking book and thinking about the complex man that is Alex.

He was a total jerk. She couldn't like him. Seriously, he's _Alex_ for god's sake.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Putting down her coffee Izzie hopped off the chair and walked to the front door. The blind was down so Izzie couldn't see who it was so casually she trotted over to the door and opened it.

"Ah!" She said in shock as she opened the door to see Dr Shepherd standing anxiously under the patio.

"Dr Shepherd!" Izzie exclaimed again as she tried to get over her surprise. "What are you doing here…again?"

She looked over the anxious man that stood in front of her, his curly locks of hair pulled back as if it had been run through by his hands over and over again, the bags under his eyes sunken from fatigue.

"I ah," He looked up at Izzie. "I was wondering if Meredith was here."

Izzie looked at the man with sympathy. "I'm sorry Dr Shepherd, she's gone out."

"To Joe's?" Shepherd asked quickly.

"No, somewhere else. I don't know." She looked at him sadly.

"Ok…" He said slowly as he looked up to Meredith window where there was no light. "Ok. Can you tell her I was here? I've got to talk to her."

"Shall do Dr Shepherd." Izzie said kindly, trying to smile at the sunken man in front of her.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he walked down the pathway.

Izzie peered out of the door and watched him walk away through the darkness then quickly closed the door.

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"It was Shepherd."

Meredith lay on her bed in her room, eyes fixed at the window in front of her as she lay in darkness. She could hear the words of Izzie behind her as she stood at her door.

"I know." Meredith mumbled.

"He said he wanted to talk to you."

"I figured he would."

"I told him you were out."

"Thanks."

There was a silence as Meredith could feel Izzie staring at her.

"Well, good night." Izzie said awkwardly.

"Night." Meredith mumbled.

She could hear the soft footsteps of Izzie as she walked down the hall. Suddenly they stopped. "You know you're going to have to talk to him sometime!" She heard Izzie shout out.

"Avoider Izzie!" Meredith shouted out from her pillow. "I'm an avoider!"

"Yeah, whatever…" She heard Izzie mumbled as she opened the door to her bedroom and close it.

Meredith didn't want to hear what Derek had to say. Because Derek talking meant one thing: he was staying with his wife. Of course he would stay with her. Meredith didn't have a chance. Addison was like some freakishly beautiful goddess who just walked around and did stuff. And Meredith? Meredith was just…Meredith.

So she didn't have a chance. Derek was staying with Addison. They'd probably move back to New York and have three crazily beautiful children with great hair while Meredith would be in Seattle being an intern. She couldn't face that right now. She couldn't hear those words from Derek. Not now, not ever. And so she had come up with a brilliant and cunning plan: she wouldn't let Derek talk to her at all.

Absolutely foolproof.

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**NB: HA! I doubt it. But let's see, will this cunning plan of Mer's work? But yeah, included Izzie's perspective here because I mean, I did Christina's, why not Izzie's? So this is my special edition chapter mark 2. You should feel very lucky. **

**And so Derek and Addison are get a divorce. _For now_. And I say that because they ain't going to be divorced till they both signed that piece of paper. And we all learned that the hard way from Greys. God I remember when Derek didn't sign. Christ I hated him. Oh, #tear#, so funny when I look back. Good times. **

**Anywho, please review. The only way I'm going to make this better is to get reviews! So if you want to let my creativity turn into stagnant goo, just quit now. But if you want good writing, you know what to do!! Review!! Hmm, that rhymed. **


	30. Chapter XXX tee hee, triple X

**The Scientist – Chapter XXX (tee hee)**

"Grey you're with Shepherd on a burst aneurism."

Day one of the brilliant and cunning plan: working perfectly.

Meredith bit her lip as she closed the door of her locker and glared at Bailey as she looked back at her quizzically as she called out the orders of the day.

"You got a problem with that Grey?" Bailey stared her down.

"No." Meredith shot out quickly. "No, not at all."

Bailey looked back over to the other interns as they huddled around their lockers. "Karev, you're on scut…"

Yes Meredith did have a problem with that. A big problem. A massive problem. Because Derek obviously asked for her to assist. And Derek would only do that if he wanted to say something to her. And right now, that something was definitely _not_ what Meredith wanted to hear. She needed to get out of this surgery.

Bailey walked out of the locker room with Christina and Izzie at her tail.

"Alex!" Meredith hissed as she grabbed his arm as he was about to follow Izzie out of the door. "You want in on Shepherd's surgery?"

Alex looked at Meredith curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I take scut, you get into Shepherd's aneurism."

Alex just looked at Meredith in surprise. "Seriously? You're going to be filling out forms and crap all day, you know that?"

"It'll be a riot. You in?" Meredith said quickly, awaiting a response.

Alex continued to look at her strangely for a second then stopped and smiled. "You bet your ass." He turned for the door then looked back. "Hey, what do I tell Shepherd?"

"Tell him I've got a cold." Meredith smiled.

"Sweet." Alex nodded then walked out of the locker room.

Excellent. Meredith could do this. She could hold off the storm a little longer. She could do this.

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He couldn't do this.

Chucking off his scrub cap Derek left Alex in the scrub room and wandered down the hall. He had to tell Meredith. He had to tell her about the divorce, about everything. But trust Meredith to be the pessimist. She had obviously been trying to avoid him. Again. Though then again it was hard for Derek to hold back a smile when Alex told him that he swapped places with Meredith. A cold was a lame excuse.

Derek walked up to the elevator, pressed the button and waited. He couldn't wait any longer, he couldn't let her avoid him any more. He had to find her, he had to find her, he had to…

Ding.

As the elevator door began to open he saw those familiar green eyes open in shock then a figure quickly lunge over to the controls.

The doors began to close again.

Without thinking Derek shot his arm through the door and slipped himself into the elevator as the doors opened automatically once more.

Meredith quickly averted her eyes from Derek as he stood staring at her in the elevator and tried turn away from him.

There was a dull clank as the doors closed and the elevator began to move.

Derek tried to steal Meredith's glance. "Mered–"

"Don't." She said quickly. "It's ok, I understand, just _don't._"

Derek stared at Meredith as she crossed her arms and looked down at the floor, waiting for the elevator to stop again. Quickly Derek moved over to the controls and pulled out the stop button. The elevator quickly jolted to a halt. Meredith looked up at Derek in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"We need to talk."

"No we don't. There's no reason for us to talk, no need for any talking whatsoever." Meredith crossed her arms again nervously.

"I think there is." Derek tilted his head and smiled at her softly, stepping closer to her.

Meredith swallowed down hard. "No. You have nothing to say to me. There is nothing you can say that I want or need to hear. So just step back and press in that button."

"No." Derek said simply, staring Meredith in the eyes.

"No?" Meredith repeated lamely. Quickly she shook out of it. "Why not?" She demanded.

"Because I've only known you for 2 months, because I'm your boss, I'm your bosses boss, because I'm married, because we've only slept together once, because we've had a grand total of _three_ real kisses, because we've only ever been on _half_ a date but yet, for some reason, I'm in love with you. In a big sort of, makes me sick inside when I think about not being with you, never being able to keep you out of my head, way that makes me divorce my wife of 11yrs for."

Meredith was stricken dumb. Derek nervously studied her for a second then smiled softly.

"That's all I wanted to say." Derek murmured softly as he turned away from Meredith and pressed the stop button in.

The elevator started up again. Derek peered over his shoulder to Meredith then looked back at the doors.

"You divorced Addison?" Derek heard the faint voice behind him. Derek turned around to face Meredith.

"Practically divorced." Derek smiled. "All I have to do is sign the papers."

"_Practically_." Meredith echoed Derek as she moved over to the doors as the elevator slowed down and stopped.

Before the doors opened Derek quickly turned to Meredith and pushed her against the side, kissing her passionately. Derek missed this, he couldn't forget it. Only _three_ real kisses and the feeling was already etched in his mind. As he felt Meredith's tiny hand running up his back then through his hair, he couldn't help but grin. He loved Meredith. He _loved_ Meredith Grey. The thought ran through his mind like ecstasy.

Ding.

Derek could hear the doors disconnect and slowly begin to shift open but Meredith continued to kiss him. Wishing he could close the doors on everyone Derek had to pull himself away from Meredith as the doors opened wider and a mass of people flooded into the elevator. Derek licked his lips and looked awkwardly over to Meredith as she tried to shuffled out between the current of people. Catching a look at Derek, Meredith smiled then walked out. The doors closed.

He loved Meredith.

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**NB: And so he does. I guess the rule of this fanfic here is that one-night stands will get you no-where in a relationship. If you want it to run smoothly you better put down that bottle of tequila and start the thing where it belongs: in the work place. **

**But yes, I guess there's only a few more chapters to go of this story, so review away cause it's some of the last chances you get! Still need to cover Meredith's thoughts of course, and other stuff….But yes! Please review! Your reviews are as welcome to me as a new ep of Greys. (which we aren't getting till the freaking 15th. DAMN YOU ABC!!!! )**


	31. Chapter XXXI

**The Scientist – Chapter XXXI**

Meredith loved Derek.

Lying on the top bunk in the on-call room Meredith stared up at the ceiling. She was head-over-heals, dangerously, stupidly in love with Derek. She didn't realise till Derek told her he loved her, and ever since the thought was planted in her head she couldn't think of anything else.

When did she fall for him? It must have been when she got that coffee off him, the morning when his patient died. Or maybe it was when he kissed her in the scrub room. She wasn't quite sure.

Scratching her head she stared sharply at the ceiling in deep thought. When the hell did she fall for him? She couldn't pin point the moment because honestly, she'd never been in love before. She'd liked guys, sure; but her pre-Alzheimer's days never had any guy go over the space of one month. She just thought relationships were annoying and tiresome.

But with Derek it was different. She _wanted_ to make time for him, to see him everyday, to see him every second, to go to sleep with him, to wake up with him, to have stupid petty fights with him. If this wasn't all-consuming love, what the hell was?

Suddenly she was knocked out of her thoughts as her pager went off. Pulling herself up she jumped off the bunk and chucked on her lab coat as she opened the door and walked out of the on-call room.

Walking down the busy hall she dogged her way past the bustling crowd to the nurses station and looked through the numerous files for the case she received on her pager.

Suddenly she felt a hand brush her right shoulder as Derek suddenly appeared at her left, smiling at her as he leaned on the counter.

"Dr Grey, what would you say to a stupid man trying to redeem himself by taking you out to dinner tonight?"

Meredith dropped her file down on the counter and stared bluntly at Derek. "You think you can redeem yourself with a steak?"

"Of course not, but you can't blame me for trying." Derek smiled at Meredith, as her expression remained unchanged. "What do you say?"

Meredith continued to stare at Derek for a moment.

"Not a chance."

"Why not?"

"Have you signed the divorce papers?" Meredith questioned Derek.

"Not yet, they're still going through the lawyer."

"Then no, I won't go to dinner with you." Meredith turned back to the station and put back the file, searching for another one. Derek watched her in confused silence.

"Why not?"

Meredith looked back at Derek. "Because there's no chance in hell I'm going to go on a date with a married man…Again."

"But we're getting a divorce!" Derek exclaimed defensively.

"And until you sign those papers, you're not technically divorced."

Derek raised his eyebrow. "Since when do you believe in technicality?"

Meredith pulled out a chart. "Since about 30 seconds ago." She smiled at Derek and put her file to her chest. "Nice talking to you Dr Shepherd."

Meredith swiftly turned around and walked down the hall, leaving Derek at the nurse's station. As she walked down the hall Meredith could not help but keep the smiled from her face.

She loved Derek. She was in love with Derek Shepherd. That was just so cool.

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Jed Griffith walked out of the elevator and headed off to his office as he tried to flick through his papers while jugging his briefcase and coffee from the café downstairs. Stumbling down the marble floor he cautiously took off the top of the coffee and held it in his mouth as he finally found the right paper and read through it.

"Mr Griffith?"

Jed looked up to see his secretary sitting at her desk in front of his office door looking at him strangely.

"Hmph?" Jed shuffled around the papers in his hands and took the coffee out of his mouth. "Yes?"

His secretary glanced behind him nervously and smiled forcibly at him. "Ah, Dr Shepherd and Dr Montgomery Shepherd are here to see you."

Confused to where his clients could be Jed followed the glance of his secretary as he turned around and saw the two doctors sitting behind him with the space of three chairs in between them.

"Oh!" Jed looked embarrassed as he held the mess of paper and files in his hand. "Right, of course. Sorry I was late. Please, come into my office."

His secretary stood up and opened the office door as Jed watched the two stand up and silently walk in the office. Quickly Jed put the coffee down on the secretary's desk, stuffed the papers into his briefcase and picked up the file his secretary had given him. Dusting off the remains of his bagel off his tie Jed picked up his coffee, strolled into his office where the two doctors sat in front of his desk and closed the door.

The silence was unbearably tense. Both Shepherds were leaning on their fists, staring away in opposite directions. This is why he hated divorce cases.

"So," Jed tried to say cheerfully as he walked over to his desk and sat down. "McGuire called me from New York to ask me to to deal with this case." Still silence. "I've got all the financial and real estate information from him, and what I've done first is basically cut the assets in half. That's the joint account and the property. So Dr Addison Shepherd, you get the house in the Hampton's and Dr Shepherd, you get the property here in Seattle. _However_, not everything could easily be separated. There is still the issue of the Brownstone but I hope you two can work out who gets it. If you can't find a solution, we can sell it then half the profit." Jed looked at the two nervously as they remained silent.

"That's fine." Derek mumbled softly. "Addison can have the Brownstone."

"No." Came a deep voice.

Jed quickly looked over at Addison in surprise. "I'm sorry?" He saw Derek's confusion as well.

"I said no." Addison said more confidently, looking up at Jed.

Derek just looked confused. "Addison, I don't want the Brownstone. You can have it. All I want is Seattle."

"I mean no we're not splitting this property. We're not splitting anything."

"What do you mean?" Derek mumbled darkly.

"I mean we're not getting a divorce Derek-" Jed watched awkwardly as Derek quickly jumped out of his seat in anger and began to pace as he put his fist to his mouth. Addison remained seated. "We are not doing this Derek. We're Addison and Derek. You can't simply throw away 11 years of marriage."

"Oh, that's pretty rich coming–"

" – Derek..."

"You slept with my best friend!!"

Jed shifted awkwardly in his chair.

"I'm not the one dating some woman in Seattle!" Addison glared at Derek from her chair.

"Don't you _dare_ bring Meredith into this!" Derek burst out.

Addison raised her eyebrows. "So it's _Meredith_? You can't seriously tell me you're dating a wide-eyed intern, this is ridiculous."

"It's not like that with Meredith, it's nothing like that." Derek mumbled angrily as he paced up and down.

"Derek, stop. What the hell are we doing?" Derek stopped and looked at Addison as she still remained seated. "I am _so_ sorry about what happened with Mark. It was a one-time mistake and I will always regret it. But I love you Derek, and I know that you still love me. Because you're my husband, and we made freaking vowels."

"Ha!" Derek scoffed bitterly.

"You've broken them too Derek, don't forget that. But how can you just let this go without fighting for it Derek?"

"It won't work." Derek mumbled.

"How do you know that? How can you say that without even trying to work this out?"

"Because I love Meredith!" Derek blurted out. Jed silently folded his arms and tried to remain unnoticed.

"Ha!" Addison laughed. "You've known her for two months and you're in _love_."

"Yes."

"Derek, have you actually stopped and thought about this? Is she the reason you filed for divorce?"

"Yes." Derek mumbled as he bit his nails.

"Then this is ridiculous." Addison threw up her hands. "You can't…You cant just suddenly get a divorce now. We've been married for 11 years. You've known her for two months. Have you considered the possibility that this _might_ be a bit rushed Derek? Why can't we give this a try?"

Derek looked down at the floor as he continued to bite his nails then looked over to Jed. "I have to…Sorry, I gotta cut his meeting short."

Quickly he walked over to the door and rushed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Addison sighed and looked down at the floor then slowly up at Jed who sat in silence once more.

"Sorry about that." She murmured sadly.

"Well, that's one reason I'm not married." Jed smiled wryly. "So, do you think we'll be having another meeting?"

Addison glanced out of the window and smiled sadly. "I don't think so."

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**NB: Muhahahahahaha!!!**

**Yes. Anywho, sorry about lateness but I had to take some time off to comprehend the new ep of House (HOUSE/CAM KISS!!!! SQUEEE!!)**

**So this is an interesting chapter. I have to admit, I quite like it. And since I totally chucked out my Meredith/Derek only perspectives with Christina and Izzie I decided to do this with the lawyer's perspective. But yeah, I hope you like it: please review!! (and just for further notice: Everything in this fic world is the same in the grey's world, as in: Addison still stayed with Mark after Derek left.) REVIEW!!**


	32. Chapter XXXII

**The Scientist - Chapter XXXII**

"Morning."

Christina raised her eyebrow and peered out of her locker to see Meredith next to her, opening her locker and stuffing her bag into it. "What's up with you?" Christina asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Meredith looked over to Christina.

"You said morning."

"It's morning."

"You never say morning."

"Your point?"

"You never say morning." Christina tried to emphasise again. "You're all perky and happy." She moved herself away from Meredith a bit.

"I am not." Meredith rolled her eyes as she closed her locker and walked over to the washbasin. Christina closed her locker watched Meredith walk past her.

"No, you are. You're happy."

"She is." George interjected. "She made me coffee in the morning. I always make her coffee."

"So I felt I needed to pay you back, big deal." Meredith splashed water on her face and pulled out some paper towels to dry her face.

"It is a big deal," Christina said with the look of surprise still on her face. "It's a very big deal because the only thing that makes you this bright and shiny is something big. Really big. Which is usually bad. Really bad."

Meredith scrunched up the paper towel and threw it in the bin. "Fine. Derek said he loved me, ok?"

"Derek who is _married_." Christina interjected.

"Derek who is getting a divorce." Meredith clarified.

"What?" George looked shocked. "When did that happen?"

"He filed a couple of days ago." Meredith sat down on the bench and put on her shoes. "He asked me on a date but I stood my ground. No dating with no signature. It's all irrelevant I know, but I stood my ground and he loves me."

And Meredith loved Derek. Talking to the others then she felt a warm feeling buzz in her stomach. She couldn't wait to tell him. She couldn't wait to go on their second date. She had so much to find out, so much tell; they barely knew each other but still she got butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing him at work today. There was still the sting of guilt in her mind, the thought that she was the actual cause of a marriage of 11 years to end. She felt sad for Addison, wondered how she was taking it, whether she blamed Meredith or not, whether she would stay in Seattle or go back to New York.

But all of this could not push aside the overwhelming feeling of joy in Meredith, a feeling that she had not felt in so long, a feeling she had not remembered ever feeling before. She loved Derek and Derek loved her. For that one second in time, life was good.

Christina was about to speak when suddenly she was interrupted by a burst of laughter outside the locker room. Meredith, George and Christina looked up to find Izzie giggling over a cup of coffee with…Alex.

"What is she doing?" Christina tilted her head and looked at Izzie strangely. Izzie let out a loud giggle.

"She's hanging out with Alex." George mumbled in confusion.

"Why?" Christina asked seriously.

"I don't know." George looked in disbelief. "I think…I think they might be friends."

Izzie let out another giggle that just made the others stare at them even more curiously with bewilderment.

George stood transfixed. "Make the lamb stop screaming!"

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Derek pulled open the filing cabinet and flicked through the files. After he ran away from the lawyer's office Derek went to the hospital and stayed there. He was on-call all night and didn't stop working.

He needed to take his mind off things…off everything. That meeting had placed a seed of doubt in his head that he felt would eat him alive if he stopped working and thought about his situation.

Quickly he flicked through the files then closed the draw, quickly opening up the one next to it.

Addison said it was a mistake. She said she still loved him. But Derek loved Meredith, he knew that for sure. But was it right to suddenly end this marriage he had with Addison for 11 years. Wasn't it weak to just let it go all of a sudden?

But Addison was the one who slept with Mark in the first place.

She did say she was sorry though. It was a one time thing, and Derek slept with Meredith too, though that was definitely a different thing altogether. Right now Derek knew he didn't love Addison as much as he did Meredith, but what if that were to change? What if it was to grow again if he tried this with Addison?

But he still loved Meredith.

Meredith thought he was getting a divorce. Derek told her he was going to sign.

But he didn't.

Derek slammed the draw shut and wrenched out another one.

He had to tell Meredith, he had to tell her everything. The meeting, the seed of doubt, his hesitation. He left too much from Meredith before, he was not going to make the same mistake again. It would be hard, he would be deceiving her, he would hurt her, but it was the better thing to do. He was going to tell her about Addison. He was going to tell her she said Mark was a mistake. He was going to tell her that he was thinking about staying with Addison.

He had to tell her.

There was a knock at the door.

Derek quickly looked up to see a nurse standing in the doorway. "Dr Shepherd?"

"Yes?" Derek swallowed his internal feud and slowly closed the cabinet draw.

"There's a patient for you who just came out from the pit. She has intermittent cramping and diarrhoea but she was Alzheimer's so we need a neurologist to do a quick check up."

Derek nodded and turned around, picking up his lab coat of the chair. "What's her name?" He put his coat on absentmindedly.

"Huh?" The nurse looked back round.

"What's the patient's name?"

"Ah…" The nurse flicked back the page on her chart and looked through it. "Ellis Grey."

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**NB: And so life is about to become incredibly shit for Meredith Grey. And you guys have no idea where I'm going to take this, do you? Well, I hope not. Cause I don't. And that would be incredibly freaky if you knew my thoughts before I did. Unless you had a TARDIS and a mind reading machine, which is just _so _obvious. But yes, hope you're liking it! If so: Review! If not: Review! That's right, all you people who are hating this fic but yet still reading it, I want you to speak out! America is not the only place in the world with Freedom of Speech. **


	33. Chapter XXXIII

**AN: Ya, I know, _way_ too late for this one, sorry guys, internet's been screwing up. Bastards, the lot of them! – enjoy! (Christ I'm up to chapter 33 – that's just ridiculous.)**

**The Scientist – Chapter XXXIII**

Derek shuffled down the steps of the fire stairs, his footsteps echoing off the cold concrete as he headed downstairs. He had asked the interns, he had checked the janitors closet, the cafeteria, the elevators, the basement corridor and there was only one last place she could be.

Coming up to the fire exit Derek pushed the metal bar down and opened the door with a clang, squinting out into the open.

Meredith was there. She was sitting quietly on the bench Derek had sat on when he lost his patient, all those months ago when he first met her. It seemed so long ago, so much had happened.

So much had come back.

Derek quickly shook the thought of Addison out of his head and walked through the door and over to Meredith as she sat peacefully on the bench, looking out into the street behind the line of trees.

"Hey." Derek said softly.

Meredith looked over at him and gave a sad smile as Derek came over and sat next to her. "Hey."

Derek looked down at his hands in silence, wanting to embrace Meredith, to take her close, stoke her hair, to kiss her on the forehead and to comfort her. But he knew Meredith would not allow it. And he could not deceive her on anything anymore. But how could he tell her?

"Meredith…" Derek looked up sadly. "Your mum…"

"Yeah, she's here." Meredith nodded softly to herself.

"She has Alzheimer's." Derek heard himself speak.

"Yup."

"For about five years." He could not believe that Meredith could keep this a secret for so long, the weight of it must have gnawed away at her as it would to anyone else.

"Yeah." She said softly.

Derek looked back down at his hands as there was another silence. He had to grasp his hands together tightly as to stop them from grabbing onto Meredith, he had to try and remember his last thought before he heard about her mum. But being there with Meredith, having her right next to him made it so hard for him to stop himself, every muscle aching from having to stop himself from stroking her soft cheek.

"You ok?" He asked in a cracked voice as he looked up at Meredith again.

"I'm fine." She looked over at him. "Just trying to hide from all my annoying sympathetic friends." She smiled lightly.

"But do you want to see her?" Derek quickly jutted in. "You can if you want to."

"Nah, it's fine." Meredith shrugged. "Me and my mum don't have the closet relationship, even before she was diagnosed." Derek looked up at her sympathetically. "But it's fine, I'm just gonna wait out here for a while for the others to find something else to busy themselves with."

"I'll stay."

Meredith looked at Derek strangely. "Don't you have a surgery to get to Dr Shepherd?"

"I only have one in a few hours. It's alright, I'll stay." He smiled lightly at her.

"Ok." She smiled back, then looked back at the street and sighed. Derek looked over at her hands as she started to tap her thigh anxiously. Derek looked up at her curiously as she stared fixed at the street behind the trees. "How's the divorce going? Didn't you have your meeting?" She asked with fake apathy.

Derek suddenly felt sick in his stomach, his ache replaced by the sting of guilt. He had to tell her. "Ah…yeah, we ah, did."

Meredith smiled softly. "Then I guess you owe me a steak."

Derek's stomach turned, he was going to be sick. He couldn't handle this, he couldn't handle how obliviously happy Meredith looked, not knowing what happened in the meeting, not knowing what he was going to say to her before.

He had to say it. But he couldn't, her mum just got admitted and she could have a hepatoma. He couldn't give her this other thing to doubt, this other thing to make her wait. He looked away from Meredith. He couldn't face her right now, he was deceiving her, and it killed him.

Suddenly his pager went off. Quickly looking at it he glanced up at Meredith, his stomach clenching tightly as he did.

"You better go." She nodded softly to him.

"Yea." Derek quickly stood up. "Sorry, I…"

"It's cool, I'll be fine."

"Ok…" Derek mumbled as he turned around and went back up the fire stairs, his guilt stabbing him on every step.

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**NB: I know, short chapter – but not to fear! The next chappy (also probably short) will be up in an hour or two – just off to get much needed haircut (YAY!!) But yes, I think if you think of these two chapters as 'novellas' it settles every need for more. At lease, I hope so. But I also need to raise tension – Who on earth paged Derek? But I guess, in posing that question I have already answered it. Dammit. I really do suck in the subtle hint department.**


	34. Chapter XXXIV

**AN: So when I said: "The next chapter will be up in an hour or two", I kind of forgot to add: "that is, if my internet doesn't crew up again." Which it did. Thus: never trust greypilgrim26. She's a sneaky bugger.**

**The Scientist – Chapter XXXIV**

"Addison."

Derek walked in the office anointed on his pager and closed the door as he put his hands on his hips and watched as Addison got up from her chair and looked at him.

"Derek. Did I pull you out of anything important?" She tried to ask innocently.

"Yes." Derek replied bluntly.

"Sorry," Addison pushed her chair in and moved over to Derek. "I checked whether or not you were scrubbed in."

"What do you want Addison?"

Addison looked cautiously up at Derek as she sighed and then crossed her arms. "You ran out in the middle of a meeting."

"So?"

"_So,_ why did you go? Or do you have a habit of running away in the middle of important conversations?"

Derek continued to glare at Addison. "If it were a habit you would know."

"Exactly." Addison added bluntly. "So why did you go?"

"I needed to think ok?" Derek turned and ran his hand through his hair.  
Addison looked at him curiously. "I thought the intern was the love of your life, why do you need time to think?"

"Her name's Meredith." Derek spat quickly as he could feel his chest begin to heave in and out.

"Sorry." Addison sighed. "Derek, calm down. You left for a reason. You know this can work."

"But I'm in love with Meredith!"

"All evidence to the contrary – "

"What?" Derek snapped quickly, glaring at Addison. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, here you are; proclaiming your undying love for this starry-eyed intern but you still haven't divorced me. You know why? Because I was right, and somewhere inside you, you know that. But you are trying like hell to stop yourself from seeing the truth."

Derek could feel the sickness of guilt growing inside him once more. "I won't deny that the thought never came into my head, but I have to tell her, she has to know."

"So what's stopping you?" Addison asked simply as she folded her arms.

Derek sighed and ran his hand through his hair once more. "Her mum was just admitted. She has Alzheimer's."

"Derek, don't base your decision on how guilty your conscious would feel afterwards."

Derek's eyes flickered with anger. "Since when do you tell me how or how not to base my decisions??"

"I'm not Derek…" Addison backed down to calm Derek. "I just…we can make this work." She looked into his eyes sincerely.

"You didn't say that before."

"What do you mean?" Addison looked at him curiously.

"After I caught you sleeping with my best friend you said that if I leave now, we won't have a chance. You said that."

Addison quickly tried to regain her thoughts. "I was confused Derek! I needed you to stay. I just wanted you to stay, I would have said anything."

"_Anything?_" Derek felt his body tighten up again.

"No Derek, not that." Addison put her hand out rested it on Derek's arm, looking into his eyes. "We could worked it out."

Derek evaded her pleading eyes and looked down. "No we couldn't have."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I do."

"Then why haven't you divorced me?"

Something clicked in Derek. Quickly he shook it off and took a step back, letting Addison's arms fall off his shoulder. "I just….We were married for 11 years Addison, am I allowed a second of hesitation….a _moment_ of painful doubt without being pounced on?!"

Addison rubbed her face with her hand and sighed. "Sorry Derek. I want this to work…"

"Well, I don't know. Sorry. I'll see you this afternoon at the lawyer's." Derek shuffled past Addison and opened the door. Addison turned around.

"We going to cancel or go through with it?"

Derek glanced down at the ground then turned back round to Addison as she stood alone in the office.

"I don't know. I, ah…I gotta go."

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Jed Griffith sculled down the last bit of his coffee, shook the paper cup for any residue then chucked the light cup in the bin as he quickly closed his laptop and moved it to the other side of his desk, looking through the warm papers that lay underneath it then quickly checking the other pile next to the phone.

"Hey."

Jed quickly looked up and saw the doctor standing at the door, hands in jacket pockets as he looked sadly at Jed.

"Oh, hello again Dr. Shepherd." Jed put down the pile of papers he had picked up and stood up straight behind his desk.

The man looked curiously around the room. "Is Addison here?"

"Ah, she said she'd be a tad late. But come in, sit down." Quickly Jed moved to the front of his desk and picked up the various files that were stacked on the clients' chairs, put them down by his desk then sat down on his seat. Derek looked at him strangely then walked into the office and closed the door behind him. Jed clasped his hands together and tried to give the most affirmative smile as Derek continued to look at him strangely and sat down in front of his desk.

"So, you know what you're doing?" Jed leaned back in his chair.

Derek leant on his hand and rubbed his chin in thought. "To be honest, I don't know. I still don't know." Derek looked out the window at the grey sky. "I thought that I'd make my decision before I got here but now, now I just have no idea."

"Well that's promising." Jed rolled his eyes. "You've got to make up your mind before you wife comes cause I'm not going to go through the last meeting all over again."

Derek looked back to Jed and smiled lightly. "You don't usually do divorces, do you?"

"Corporate lawyer." Jed said dully. "I haggle over the price of billion dollar oil tankers, not the difference between 11 years and 2 months." He smiled wryly.

"Ha." Derek smiled. "Answer seems obvious, doesn't it? But not for me…" Derek gazed out at the darkening sky once more.

"Well getting into this much strife after knowing the girl for two months, she's got to be one hell of an intern."

Derek smiled sadly. "Yeah…that she is."

Jed crossed his arms in the silence and watched Derek curiously as he continued to lean his head on his fist and gaze out the window.

"Does it hurt?" Jed asked softly.

"What?" Derek shot back to Jed and looked at him peculiarly.

"This whole divorce thing. I've never been through it, I'm just curious."

Derek looked at him strangely for a second then glanced back out the window and rubbed his tired eyes. "Yeah, it hurts."

Jed looked at Derek sadly. "There's a reason why it hurts."

Derek glanced back at Jed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you've already decided what you're going to do, who you're going to choose. That's why it hurts."

"I've already decided?" Derek raised an eyebrow.

"Yup."

Derek folded his arms and studied Jed as he clasped his hands together again. "How do you know that?"

"Lawyer's god-like omniscience." Jed smiled wryly. Derek continued to study him. "So am I right?"

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**NB: Aha! He _has _already chosen! And you will find out who next chapter. But I'm not going to tell you who, I'm not going to hint at it or anything else! No hints! You can guess though, you can beg as well. I'm all for the begging. Makes me feel all strong and powerful in my meaningless life. **

**And so that was the return of the lawyer. Was going to do it in Derek's POV but then I thought "fucking hell, I've done Derek's POV way too much recently, I want that lawyer guy" therefore: Lawyer Guy.**

**So yeah, who shall Derek choose? I'm just going to say here that I won't be afraid to go the unpopular way. That's right: I'm a fanfiction writer on the edge! **


	35. Chapter XXXV

**The Scientist – Chapter XXXV**

"What?"

Meredith glared at George and Izzie as they stared at her from the other side of the table, fork in hand as they ate their dinner.

"Nothing." George said quickly as he stuffed the piece of marinated chicken in his mouth. Izzie smiled lightly and looked down at her food again. Meredith sighed and continued swirling her fork in the noodles. Slowly Meredith moved her gaze upwards to see…

"What?" Meredith asked more forcefully as she noticed George and Izzie staring at her again.

"It's just that…" Izzie nervously began. "Your mother was admitted today Meredith, she was tested for cancer! Are you sure you're ok?"

Meredith exhaled and put down her fork. "Seriously? I'm going to say this one more time, and one time only: I, am, fine. Ok? Anything else you want to ask me or can I go back to eating your stir fry?"

"Ok, whatever." Izzie mumbled as she played with her food. "So what about McDreamy?"

Meredith looked up at her strangely. "What do you mean _'what about McDreamy'_?"

"He said he was divorcing Miss Salmon-Coloured-Scrubs. Has he done it yet?"

"He ah," Meredith quickly looked down and began to play with her food. "He hasn't done it yet."

"Forms haven't been filed yet?" George asked absentmindedly.

"They ah…" Meredith began to feel the nervousness creep up on her. Why haven't they been divorced yet? Was Derek having second thoughts about it? She was his wife; she was all leggy and fabulous. What if he decided not to do it? "They had to postpone the meeting with the lawyer. You know, lawyer stuff." Meredith mumbled.

Izzie stared concerned at Meredith again. "Mer, are you sure you're – "

Meredith groaned with annoyance. "Oh for god's – "

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Meredith let out a silent sigh of relief and quickly put down her fork. "I'll get it!" She quickly jumped out of her chair and trotted out of the kitchen.

Walking up to the door she glanced at the clock in the hallway and wondered who it was. The Chief said he would come over if her mum's results came out but Meredith refused his offer, saying he shouldn't bother and that she'd be fine finding out the results in a page cause it really didn't matter. It was insensitive of her but deep inside, she wished that her mum _did_ have cancer, because at least her mum would get some peace. There was no life in that empty shell.

Sighing she put her grabbed the handle and opened the door.

Outside was pitch black. She could see the faint shimmer of the street lamp behind the shadow of the rustling trees but besides that, she could see no one there.

"Hello?" She asked the blackness curiously. Suddenly something stepped out.

"Ah!" Meredith jumped in shock and instinctively grabbed her heart.

The dark figure stepped into the light and Meredith drew a deep breath, trying to calm her heart down as she felt it pumping erratically.

"Jesus Derek," She sighed. "You gave my a fright."

Derek glanced up at the dark light bulb of the porch with tired eyes. "What's wrong with the light?"

"Blew a few days ago. But what's up?"

Derek shoved his hands in his pockets. "We need to talk."

Something about his voice made Meredith suddenly glance over her shoulder to the hallway for the others then move out onto the patio, slowly closing the door behind her. Trying to adjust to the darkness Meredith watched as Derek ran his fingers through his hair then looked around the patio, finally walking over to the old swing-chair then sitting down. Folding her arms from the cold, Meredith's face turned serious as she moved up to the seat and sat down next to Derek.

Meredith looked closely at Derek's face as her eyes grew more accustom to the dark as he leaned forward in the seat and stared at his clasped hands.

"I have to tell you something." He murmured with a deep voice. "I have to tell you something, but you must promise not to take the wrong way, or to interject or anything. I just have to say this, say everything and then you can do whatever you want." He looked up at Meredith nervously. "Is that ok?"

Meredith looked at him curiously, wondering what he had to say. "Sure." She stared at him inquisitively.

"I ah…" Derek sighed once more and ran his hand through his hair then looked down at the ground again. "I had the meeting with the lawyer. Addison, she said stuff, about us, about her and me. And it made sense. What she said about the divorce made sense to me." Meredith felt her stomach tighten up. "But I couldn't handle it. Because I had so firmly made up my mind about the whole thing so to suddenly be in that office and to have Addison saying those things to me just made me so confused. So I left. And I thought about it. I thought it over."

Derek paused for a second then looked up at Meredith. "She said that I still loved her, she said that me and her could work it out, that we could love each other again." Meredith froze as Derek looked down again. "And for a second, I did think we could. There was truth in her words, and it made me sick. But then I went back to the lawyer and it just all came rushing back to me. Everything Addison said to me made me realise why I had felt like absolute shit the past few days, why I couldn't help but feel sick in my stomach any time I saw you down the hall." He looked up at Meredith again. "Because I'm in love with you Meredith, I've been in love with you for…ever. This whole divorce thing, it just…" Derek shook his head lightly. "I can't believe how stupid I was to think of staying with Addison! This isn't some passing fling, or weird sort of post marital amnesia or whatever you call it. I can't function without you; I could live off just standing near you, breathing you in. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Addison before hand, but I didn't want another thing hanging on your mind with your mum and everything. I'll understand if you don't want to go back with me after this, it's ok. I just needed to say this, get it off my chest but I'll ah, I'll just leave."

Derek slowly got up from the seat. Meredith struck dumb. Frozen she sat in the seat, arms still crossed and eyes still gazing into nothing as she tried to grasp what had just happened. Derek said he loved her. Hold on, did Derek divorce Addison? He was talking about something or other but she kind of blanked out when he mention the whole sick-in-stomach thing. Shit, where is he going?

Meredith quickly stood up and grabbed Derek's arm, turning him round to her as he began to walk away. Still holding tight to Derek's arm Meredith stared into his eyes for a second as they faced each other in silence, so close she could feel Derek's hot breath on her lips.

"Derek." She trembled. "You divorced Addison?"

A smile grew on Derek's face. "Yes." He gazed dreamily at her as she continued to grab his arm tightly.

"Ok…" She mumbled, flustered as she realised how close to Derek she was standing. "Ok. So you're divorced."

Derek's smile grew bigger. "Yes."

"Ok then." She tried to saw firmly. "Ok."

"Ok." Derek murmured, slowly moving closer to Meredith.

Meredith quickly jerked her head backwards slightly away from Derek's approaching lips and tightened her grip on his arm. "So does that mean we have a second date?"

Derek chuckled and lunged forward at Meredith, kissing her deeply as he pulled his arm towards him. Meredith followed his arm and wrapped her arms around Meredith as she smiled and opened her mouth.

She was kissing Derek.

Derek was divorced.

Derek was hers.

Holy shit.

_Fine_.

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**NB: Yes, that's right: it's the end of "The Scientist" - didn't want to tell you that it was the end soon cause otherwise you'd know immediately that he choose Meredith. Ahahaha, sorry. But to see your faces (actually to _guess_ your faces based on your reviews) was hilarious. Tee hee! Like I'd ever let Derek choose Addison! But enough of that. It's good to keep you guys on your toes. **

**Anywho, I'd like to finish of this fic by giving a shout out to all those regular reviewers who made my day many times:**

**1st, as always, _Lizzie9_: Now I'll finally have to time to read _your_ fics lol. You guys are champs.**

**_mcobsessed: _Cause you always make me want to get it better next chapter. **

**_anything.you.want:_ Because the fact that you find my authors notes amusing is _itself _amusing.**

**_nfinchamscheff_: Cause I "just get all caught up" when I read your reviews.**

**_saz89_: Cause you can't help but smile when reading all those "eeks" and exclamation marks. **

**_Kilikina1: _Short, but sweet. And cause you read half of it at once then kept going. Cheers. **

**_2SeXy4MYsCRUbs_: Christ I hope I spelt that right. But because you loved me "Derek as friend" speech and give long reviews.**

**_LucinaLoveGrey_: Cause you're a champ reviewer. No need to say anything else. **

**_Mrs.Dr.DerekShepherd _and_ mrs. derek mcdreamy_: Cause you both seem to be married to McDreamy.**

**_McLoving Grey's_: Cause you chat on about what happened in the chapter.**

**_Leah Day _and _platypusred_: Aussie pride mate! Aussie pride. (Christ I hope you're an aussie platypusred, if not, change your name.)**

**And last as always, a shout out to the Princess of Passive-Aggressivia from the original House Home: _Princess Chris_.**

**AND to all those others I haven't mentioned who have reviewed or added me as a favourite: thanks guys. It's pretty damn cool to know that people like my stories. And if you don't, why the hell are you reading the last chapter? I'm on to you. **

**So I guess the moral of this story is: never have one nightstands with your boss, and if you're married: always tell your partner before your spouse turns up unannounced. If you do this, you will not have 10 months of angst and a frustrated fan base for an entire season.**

**But for now, cheerio! And one last thing: REVIEW!!**


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